quiltmouse

I'm floating a square in a square with a "created cloth" 6" crumb block. I graph papered it. I have two different patterns. The first two sides, then the second two. The reason for the two pattern pieces is, then I'm not trimming off (wasted fabric) the corners, like you do in a traditional sq in sq (diamond in sq) block. My float is over 1", so I would have a lot of trimmed off fabric. (My final block is either 10" or 12". ) The first pattern is shaped like a house, five sided. The second is the traditional half sq triangle.

Draw your graph diagram (without seam allowances), then cut out the house piece you end up with, and then add your seam allowance. I increased the diagonal width about 1/4", to ensure my corners aren't too short. That's only 1/8" on both sides, so I don't trim it off after I add the other two corners.

I cut strips of fabric, then used the templates to sub-cut my units. With the house shape, there are some small triangles that are waste. Since they are not trimmings, with a pressed seam, they are uniform and I toss them into my crumb box.

Bonnie Hunter uses diamond in a square. Her directions are to finger press the center square in half. Then you use the press mark to center the point of the corner you are sewing onto the center sq. I'm using this tip.