Easy Quarter-Square Triangles

There are a few different ways you can make quarter square triangles. You could simply cut four right-angled triangles and sew them together (a great way to use up any triangle-shaped scraps you have) however that can get a little tricky with all the bias edges and you only get one square at a time. I'm going to show you my favourite way of making quarter square triangles, two at a time.

As with my half square triangles and flying geese, I'm going to end up with blocks slightly larger than needed so I can trim them to the exact size I need, giving me more square and accurate blocks.

Step one:

- Cut one square each of two different fabrics 1¼ inches larger than your finished block size. In my case I needed a finished size of 3 inches and so I cut my squares 4¼ inches.

- Cutting your squares this size gives you the very slightest amount of extra fabric to trim off at the end, if you prefer a little more leeway then cut them 1½ inches larger instead.

- On the wrong side of one of your squares, draw a line diagonally from corner to corner. Place this square (right sides together) directly on top of your other square.

Step two:

- Sew a quarter inch seam on either side of drawn line.

- Cut along drawn line.

Step three:

- Open up your two new squares and press. You can either press to one side or press your seams open, whichever your prefer. You now have two half square triangles.

Step four:

- Just like in step one, draw a line from corner to corner on the wrong side of one of your new squares.

- Place this square on top of your other square so that the pink half is on top of the yellow half (or whichever colours you are using) as shown in the first picture here. However once directly on top of the other square you shouldn't be able to see the bottom one, as shown in the second photo.

- As you can see, I've actually placed my half square triangle on top of a half square triangle made from different fabrics (though still pink and yellow) just to give the finished block a more scrappy look. Of course you can use the two half square triangles you just made in steps one to three or you can use any two half square triangles of the same size that you have.

Step five:

- Sew a quarter inch seam either side of you drawn line.

- Cut along line.

Step six:

- Open up your two new squares and press.

- Trim to size, which in my case was 3½ inches (3 inch finished size + ½ inch seam allowance).

- You now have your two completed quarter square triangles!

Now go ahead and make some more and put them together into some fun designs. Here are a few examples of how you could arrange your blocks, but you can really arrange them however you would like, it's your quilt after all.

So have a play with it, see what designs you can come up with. Quarter-square triangles work great both when put together into larger blocks or as borders.

Till next time, happy quilting!