bow tie quiltblock question?
 

I want to make a bow tie quilt the traditional way with my bow tie block being 8" finished. I know I can cut (4) 4 1/2" squares, but how much should I cut off each cornerof the block and how big should my smaller square be. I can't find a pattern for that size bow tie block.
Thanks

I usually use 1/2 the size of the square to determine how large to cut my corners.......so for myself I would use just cut my 4.5 in squares into 4 quarters that should be 2 1/4 in each. I'm sure someone with much more experience and more matmatically sound advice will be along shortly to give you the correct answer. Cant wait to see your finished project, Bow tie is on my bucket list!

I made mine with charm packs (5") squares. I cut one 5" square into quarters (2.5" squares) to use on the corners of the background squares. The proportions seemed right to me, but I'm not sure if that's traditional?

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Here's how I do mine. The quilt was made with reproduction fabrics, most of which have military or nautical themes.

Jan in VA
For the record: this is my own graphic and quilt.

As always, Jan you have wonderful illustrations.

Great graphics jan! I think anyone could follow that pattern. If you need to, mark a line on the back with a diagonal corner to corner, to sew on to and make them uniform and straight. Check the block after sewing on the triangles to block to the ends, to square anything sticking out and then cut away the back triangles leaving a quarter inch seam.

Thank you for your comments. I know how to do the bow tie with snowball corners, but I want to do the traditional bow tie block with inset corners. Wanted to find what size the smaller square block is and how to cut the angle off the corner of the bigger block so they match up. I thought there might be a math formula.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but here's hoping.

Draw up your 8" square, marking at 2,4 &6" on all sides.
Divide into 4 equal squares.
Now mark each line at 2" from the center and connect the dots. This is your center square.
You will have to measure the sides of the square, and cut 1/4" larger all sides for seam allowances.
Do the same with the 4 tie and background squares. This should give you the correct size pieces for set-in seams.

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I like the three dimensional bow tie pattern:

http://www.generations-quilt-pattern...ilt-block.html

Thank you so much Gay I will give this a try. I suppose I could change the size a bit of the center square.