I'm an overconfident new quilter. I decided to make a throw for my daughter using 6 1/2 in squares on point. My problem is that for the triangles on the sides I cut the 6 1/2 squares diagonally in half and they seem too small. Is there a calculation for figuring this out? I thought that maybe I should cut the squares 7" and cut those in half diagonally but those seemed too big. should I cut squares 6 3/4"? If someone could offer me some sage wisdom and advice on my predicament I'd so appreciate it.Seems like it should be simple .........

For me, it is easiest to cut them too big, sew them on, then trim the block to size.

The Quilter's Cache site has a page on "Setting Triangles" on one of her how-to pages. That should help!

the formula for making half square triangles is to add 7/8" to the finished size that you want your squares to be, this includes your seam allowances. Some quilters add 1" just to be on the safe side and square up to the proper size after sewing.
Here's a tutorial for making them quickly using no triangles at all!

http://quilting.about.com/od/quickpi...squaretria.htm

I know you can't just cut them in half and have them fit. Maybe use a triangle template against it to give you a better idea of size?
it would be easier to just cut them bigger and trim but you would get more waste that way

Setting triangles for a 6" finished block should be cut as 9.75" square, then cut twice diagonally to get 4 QST's.

for your four corners, cut two 5.25" squares ONCE diagonally each.

Here is the formula:
multiply finished square size by 1.414 and add 1.25 for seam allowances.

Thanks for the help! I went to the Quilter's Cache and viewed the tutorial. I knew I could count on you veteran quilters to supply me with what I needed. Whew! I can do it!