JLD

I am making a quilt - I don't have a pattern other than the one I made so I don't have the measurements. I am making a sort of Ohio star pattern. The problem I am having is figuring out what size to make the triangles. So far they have been to small. Is there a formula? Thanks for any help!

justwannaquilt

Are you doing your QST the "easy" way?

http://quilting.about.com/od/quickpi..._squares_2.htm

JLD

Thanks for the info - hadn't thought about it. New to quilting. My mom had said to add 1 3/4" to the size I wanted but it wasn't working. I think this will help. I will try it and see. Thanks again.

omak

We all hate to trim, but there is nothing wrong with adding a full two inches to the finished measurement you want, and then trimming to the size you want.
Now, having said that, are you working to the finished measurement of the square you are working the triangle to - -?
or, are you measuring the square you are looking at, thinking that is the "finished measurement" ... not so! ... if you are looking at a square that is 3 1/2", it will finish at three inches.
Maybe we need a bit more information on the measurements you are working with and the sizes you want to end up with?
When in doubt, cut larger and trim down ... in time, the formula will work itself out.
Have you seen the quiltville site?

http://quiltville.com/

Bonnie Hunter has a lot of scrappy quilt patterns at that site. She helps with organizing scraps, AND! She has a lot of fun ways to learn how to make traditional blocks ... she really wants to help us succeed at making quilts and her snapshot by snapshot step explanation with well-written instructions should be able to help you understand what your mom is talking about.

Having said all of that, I am curious - - why aren't the measurements working for you?

JLD

Thanks for your info. I have put a drawing of what I am trying to do on here. My mom says she doesn't think it will work. It is what I have my heart set on. I want the center square to be 8" ( I really like the material). I know that I could do a 9 patch but I would prefer the center to stay whole. What do you think? I haven't been doing this long but I do like it - once I figure out what I am doing.

amma

Here is is for you who are on dial up

amma

I can make the templates for you on EQ

How big do you want the finished block to be?

amma

I figured you were doing a 12" finished block if your center is 8 inches :wink:

Any way, here are the templates for this block

I would put it together this way...think of making the block in 3 components. Sew the two triangles together using the light blue section as a guide and then sew them to the corner block. Then sew the opposite corner component the same way that is pink. Then I would sew the triangles to the corner blocks in the center component and sew them to the ends of the center square. Then sew the three together. JMHO

bearisgray

makes sense to me

JLD

Yeah this is what I am talking about. That is what I thought would work best but the problem I am having is that when I have made one the size of the triangles isn't working. I have either gotten them too big or too small. It is getting frustrating. I did get a smaller one to work with a 4" center but when I doubled everything it didn't work. I have no idea why.