Moda Fabrics Nocturne Night Story Quilt - Downloadable PDF

Moda Fabrics Nocturne Night Story Quilt – Free Downloadable PDF Pattern Summary

The Night Story Quilt by Moda Fabrics is a striking 58" x 58" square quilt featuring four large star blocks set on point against a sweeping background. Designed at an intermediate difficulty level, this project is available as a free downloadable PDF and makes excellent use of Moda's pre-cut fabric system to streamline the construction process. The finished quilt has a bold, graphic quality that suits both modern and traditional interiors.

Design Overview

The central design of the Night Story Quilt revolves around four distinct large star blocks — Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, and Block 4 — each pieced from half square triangle units and arranged to create a cohesive, on-point star composition. The blocks are set against large background corner triangles cut from a solid background fabric, giving the quilt its characteristic medallion-like appearance. Each of the four star blocks is unique in its fabric combination, adding visual complexity and movement across the quilt surface.

Materials Required

• 2 Nocturne Turnovers© (SKU 1380TO) – Moda's pre-cut Turnover bundles, which contain pre-cut right-triangle fabric pieces designed to be sewn together into half square triangle blocks with minimal waste
• 2 yards background and binding fabric (SKU 1357-29) – used for the large setting triangles and binding strips
• 3⅔ yards backing fabric (SKU 1384-17) – for the quilt back

The Nocturne fabric collection by Moda Fabrics provides the rich, moody color palette that gives the Night Story quilt its name. The Turnover pre-cut format is a significant time-saver, as the triangles are already cut to size and ready to pair and stitch.

Techniques Used

Half Square Triangle Construction

The foundation of this quilt is the half square triangle (HST) block. A total of 64 half square triangle blocks are required to complete all four star blocks. Each HST is made by stitching two Moda Turnover© pieces together along their diagonal edge using a scant ¼" seam. After pressing the seam toward the darker fabric, each block is trimmed and squared to 5½" x 5½". Careful pressing and squaring at this stage is essential for accurate block assembly and crisp points in the finished stars.

On-Point Setting with Large Background Triangles

Once the four star blocks are assembled from their HST units, large background triangles are added to set the blocks on point. The background fabric is cut into 30½" x 30½" squares, which are then cut once diagonally to yield the large corner triangles. These triangles are intentionally cut slightly oversized to allow for trimming after quilting, ensuring perfectly straight edges and accurate ¼" seam allowances at the quilt's perimeter. To attach the triangles accurately, quilters are instructed to fold each large triangle in half to find its center and match that center point to the center of each star block before stitching.

Fabric Sorting and Labeling

Because the four star blocks each use different combinations of the Turnover fabrics, the pattern emphasizes the importance of sorting and labeling HST blocks as they are pieced. The PDF provides detailed illustrations indicating which fabric combinations to select from the two Turnover bundles for each block, making organization a key part of the construction process.

Binding

Binding strips are cut from the background fabric using a clip-and-tear method along the length of fabric (LOF), yielding four 2½" x LOF strips. The pattern references a bias seam joining method for the binding, a standard technique that distributes bulk evenly and creates smooth, durable mitered corners on the finished quilt.

Stitches and Sewing Details

• Scant ¼" seam allowance – used throughout all piecing for precise block sizing
• Diagonal seaming – for