Estimating the Size of Side Triangles and Corners -

For an "on-point" setting -

With NO MATH -

Is easy -

If you think about it for a minute -

Of course, you can always consult a "chart" for exact sizes -

But you can also "eyeball" it -

And go with an estimate -

Especially if you want your blocks to "float" -

Let me explain How I Do It - ;))

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I finished up the rest of the Deep Red Crumb Squares blocks and put them all up on the design wall -

Now I need to fill it in with side triangles and the corners -

CORNER TRIANGLES - HST -

Here's the bottom left corner -

I know that I need a HST triangle about this big to fill in the corner -

It has to be a Half-Square Triangle (HST) -
Because I want/need the outside edges to be on the straight of grain -
The long diagonal side will be the one sewn to the block -

Because the ruler is RH - it's easier to show you in the top RH corner -
That a 6" square will probably work -
You can also count the squares on the mat -

Since I like to cut them oversize to let my blocks "float" -
I did the MATH and cut my Black and Cheddar ones at 7" -

But I don't have to do any MATH -
I just have to measure my block -

Shortcut - cut your corner squares the same size as your block -
The diagonal will be always be longer than the side of your block -
Your blocks will "float" and you can always trim the corners to size later -

My blocks measure 7-1/2" -
I said before that I cut my Black and Cheddar ones at 7" -
But for this one I want more "float" - so I'm going to cut them at 8" -

So for 4 HST - corner triangles -
I cut 2 squares at 8" and stacked them -
Then cut them on the DIAGONAL - ONCE -

SIDE TRIANGLES - QST -

The side triangles need to be Quarter-Square Triangles (QST) -
Because I want/need the outside edges to be on the straight of grain -
The shorter bias edges will be sewn to the blocks -

So - for a side triangle - I'll need a QST - about this big -

Shortcut - measure the diagonal of my block -
The outside edge is roughly the same size as the diagonal measurement -

An 11' square would probably work -
I cut my Black and Cheddar ones at 12" -
But for this one I want more "float" - so I'm going to cut them at 13" -
I can get 3 - 13" squares across the width of fabric - using 39" of 40"-42" WOF -
And 3 squares will give me 12 QST which is what I need -

For 12 QST - side triangles -
I cut 3 squares at 13" and stacked them -
Then cut them on the DIAGONAL - TWICE -

I always put the corners on the wall first so that I don't get them mixed up -
Once the four corners - HST - are accounted for -
The rest are QST side triangles -

I like this one so much I think I want to make it bigger -

There is plenty more red fabric -

And no shortage of crumbs -

So that's my new plan - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -