Quarter Square Triangles

For teaching purposes we chose the Ohio Star to demonstrate how to

make a Quarter Square Triangle Block

This is the Ohio star which is made with Using Quarter Square Triangles

There are a couple of ways to create a Quarter SquareTriangle Star. This method uses basic quilting supplieslike mat, ruler, rotary cutter and sewing machine.

Supplies Needed

4-fat quarters

• 1-light print and 1 medium solid

• 1 dark print and 1 dark solid

Ruler and cutting Mat

Rotary Cutter and Pins

Sewing Machine

Cutting Directions• The formula for making Quarter Square Triangles is to take the unfinished

size of your Quarter Square Triangle block and add 1 ½-inches for the size square you will cut.

• Some quilters will tell you to add 1 ¼-inch, instead of 1 ½-inch, but we’ve seen too many quilters get frustrated when the finished piece is too small. A less then perfect seam allowance will net you a too-small block. So we like to cut it a little bigger and trim down the finished piece if necessary.

• So, for our specific project, we’re making a 9-inch finished Star Block. Look at the photo of the block and you’ll see that it’s actually a Nine Patch Block, so it’s divided equally into nine different squares. We’ll need 3-inch finished squares for each section, or 3 ½-inch unfinished.

• For a 9-inch finished block You will be cutting a 5-inch square (3 ½ + 1 ½):– Cut One - 5 inch light print (to be cut into 4 triangles)– Cut Two - 5 inch red solid (to be cut into 4 triangles)– Cut One - 5 inch solid blue (to be cut into 4 triangles)– We will cut the corner blocks and center block later…

Cut each square in half, and then cutit in half again, so it will look like this!

Before you start sewing, lay out your triangles todetermine what colors go where.

Working in a clockwise motion, Lay the light print triangle on top of the red and secure with a pin on the right edge. Next pick up the blue triangle and place it on top of the remaining red triangle (both red triangles are now invisible…underneath. Secure on left edge. Do this for all remaining triangle points. Your project should look like this.

Using a ¼-inch seam allowance, stitch the white to the red, thenstitch the blue to the red. Take the sewn units to the pressingboard and place units with red side up. Set the seams with acouple of up and down taps with the iron. Open the units andpress the seams toward the red in both cases. If you’re a newbie,check out our page on proper pressing procedures. Remembernever back and forth but rather up and down!

Double check your color placement once more, then stitch the twosections together, carefully matching the seams by nesting the seamstogether. Press!

After you match the colors in the right order; join the first two triangles; join the two half triangles; then set the seams; press seams toward the dark side; then your first unit of your project should look something like this.

Trim your block down to 3 ½-inches. This will trim off the “ears” andmake the unit the proper square. We like to use the 45 degree lines onour rulers and align it with the same 45 degree line where the pointscome together…to be sure we are centered before trimming. Repeatfor all four units and they’ll look like this.

To finish the block, cut 3 ½-inch squares of the solid fabric for the four corners. Then cut one for the center using the blue print fabric. Finish assembling the units using ¼-inch seams. Take another look at the finished unit for placement accuracy.

The best way to join the triangle units to the plain squares is first match both corners and secure with a pin. If the triangle unit does not match the plain square exactly you will need to ease the larger unit in to fit the smaller unit. Secure the middle with another pin and then add several more pins until the fullness has been taken care of. Stitch the units together.

Your Block should look like this!