Free Delectable Mountains With Star Pattern

How fitting to include both of these symbols in our pioneer quilt.

As I looked over antique quilts I was particularly drawn to this version of the Delectable Mountains. Although many versions have the rows of mountain repeated around the center like this quilt only a few had the Variable Star in the middle.

You can make this quilt as large as you wish simply by repeating more rows. You can also vary the size with the width of the border. I used a two inch border on the this pattern making it a little more than 60 inches square. Of course it's up to you if you want to add the central star. Be sure to look at The Delectable Mountain History page for background on this quilt. You can arrange the Delectable Mountain blocks to match any of the quilts I've shown there.

The printable rotary cutting instructions can be found in the following PDFs.

Delectable Mountains Rotary Cutting Instructions to make 10 inch blocks.

Variable Star Rotary Cutting Instructions to make a 14.14 inch block.

Steps for making the Delectable Mountains block
make 6

This pattern involves a great many triangles and since no one person's 1/4 inch seam is exactly the same as another's consider these suggestions.

On the Delectable Mountains pattern first make the pieced triangle half, press it then make sure the plain triangle half is the same size. It's best to test several examples and use an average for the size of the plain triangle.

Steps for making the center Star block

Now you are ready to attach the mountains to the star. You will need to make four pieced triangle halves then sew one to each side of the star block. Make sure the pieced star will fit into the central space. You may have to adjust seams a little. It has been calculated to be the right size but again there are variations in how each of us sew.

Attaching the Variable Star to the Delectable Mountains

� 2007 Judy Anne Breneman

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¹ pp 108 & 110, "Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them", by Ruth E. Finley

² p 154, Quilts of the Oregon Trail, by Mary Bywater Cross