Friendship Star Barn Quilt Pattern
A classic barn quilt block you can customize and print as a paint-ready plan.
Planning the board? Use the sizing calculator for exact cell and border measurements, or read the paint color guide before you buy paint.
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Grid
- 6 × 6
- Colors
- 7
- Suggested board sizes
- 2′ × 2′, 3′ × 3′, 4′ × 4′
About the Friendship Star block
The Friendship Star takes its name from a much broader nineteenth-century tradition of friendship and signature quilts. These treasured quilts were often assembled from blocks contributed and signed by friends or relatives, sometimes as keepsakes for someone moving away.
Friendship quilts were especially popular by the mid-nineteenth century, although they could use many different block designs — not only stars. The simple Friendship Star carries that tradition forward in a geometric form that naturally evokes connection, remembrance and community.
Learn more about the history
Tips for painting a Friendship Star barn quilt
Prime both sides of your board and seal the edges before painting to keep moisture out.
Lay out the pattern in pencil first using a grid — every shape lines up on a regular fraction of the board.
Paint the lightest color first, then work toward the darkest so any drips can be covered.
Use painter's tape along straight edges and burnish it down with a credit card to prevent bleed-through.
Ready to design your Friendship Star?
Customize the colors in the online designer and download a printable paint-by-color plan with a grid diagram.
Open in the designerPainted the Friendship Star? Share your photo.
We feature finished quilts from real makers in the gallery — it helps other painters see how the Friendship Star looks in different color combinations.