I need your help. I have about 80 10" square pieces of fabric in Japanese prints, plus a few others japanese fabrics which I have purchased to go with the squares. I am going to do a quilt out of these fabrics, and was going to do a block made up of a square, triangles. nine patch and one block with three strips in it. I will make up as many as I can with the amount of fabric I have, and what I was going to do is make trianges by cutting the squares in have stitching together and this will give me a 91/2" block, I thought right, I will cut the 10" blocks down to 9\1/2 and then make the rail block and nine patch 91/2".

For the life of me I do not seem to be able to get my measurements correct to make these two blocks 91/2". Can someone please help with my measurements, math was never my strong point, and until now have not had this problem. I guess that is because I has just come back to patchworking after 5 years in the winderness so to speak.

Thanks in advance.
Judy

I'm not good with the math, but those who are have put up the measurements, and cutting a triangle in half doesn't reduce it just by the 1/2 in that you would think. You will have to reduce the 10 in. squares by whatever the HST squares come out to. Hopefully, someone will be able to give you the measurements. I think it's reduce by 7/8 or something like that.

Make one of your HSTs and measure it before you cut too much fabric. I'd be surprised by the time it's squared if it's 9 1/2". Mine would be a little smaller.

With the 9 patch, you need to add an inch to the 9 1/2 for two seams, which is 10 1/2, the divide that by 3 for the size of the block. Same with the rail fence. 3 1/2" blocks will end up 9 1/2" as will 3 1/2" strips for the fence.

This will sound silly, but what are HSTS? Makes sense which you said irishrose, I will see what others come up with. I realise I will have to trim the squares down to the 91/2".

Thanks Judy

HSTS Half Square Triangles

If my maths is right :? if you put 2 x 10"squares together and draw a line on the diagonal and then sew 1/4" from that line on either side and cut on the line you should end up with a square that is 9 and 1/8". ;-)

Some basics -

The only way you get a 9.5" FINISHED block out of a starting 10" square .....is if you do NOTHING to it .
No cutting, nada.
Just sew it to another 10" square. ;-)

Any cuts, even one, will result in a smaller square.

For a 9" FINISHED block, starting with the same square, you can only have ONE straight cut.
Which eliminates the 9Patch, Rail Fence and the HST.

So on to Plan B.

HST - the EXACT formula is desired FINISHED HST block size PLUS 7/8" for the size of the starting squares.

As woody pointed out - working backwards - you'd get a FINISHED 9-1/8" HST block from a 10" square.

Generally, though, many folks, including myself, start with a larger square, make the HST blocks, and then trim down to the exact size.
You get a perfectly sized block this way.
Since you can't make your starting squares any larger, your only option - and my suggestion - would would be making your FINISHED blocks smaller.

You also might not want to deal with 1/8" or 1/3" increments. I certainly wouldn't.

Both the Rail Fence (if it's a 3 rail block) and the 9 patch block are on a 3(x3) grid.

You're starting with 10" blocks - that's a given.
Taking into consideration the needed 1.5" total need for seam allowances (.5" for each internal seam and .5" for the block seam allowance), the size of the FINISHED triangle, and the least amount of wasted fabric, I would shoot for 8.25" FINISHED squares (8.75" UNFINSHED).

This means you really have just a tiny bit of little wiggle room - the starting squares have to be 10" square and your cutting and sewing and pressing have to be pretty right on.

HST blocks:
Take two 10" squares, right sides together.
Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of one square.
Sew 1/4" on each side of the line.
Cut apart on the drawn line.
Gently press the seams.
Trim the blocks to 8.75" UNFINISHED

Here's a random link - Method One - explaining it further (if you're not familiar with this method already):
http://quilting.about.com/od/quickpi...uaretria_2.htm

I'm not sure where you're incorporating your other fabrics, nor how much variety you're looking for, but you can see that 3.25" width will work for both the RF and 9P blocks.

Rail Fence Blocks:
From the 10" starting squares, cut three strips 3.25" wide.
Mix and match (and/or use some of the blenders)
Sew three strips together.
The block should be 8.75" wide (the length will still be 10" ).
Trim the block to a 8.75" UNFINISHED square.

9Patch blocks:
Cut 3.25" strips from your starting squares (and/or other fabric)

You should decide on your color/value scheme/layout as it will make it easier to decide which way to press the seams.
Think about this step BEFORE you start the next step.
Life really will be simpler. ;-)

Sew three strips together.
Mix and match the fabrics in the sets for more variety (if that's what you want), maybe incorporating more of the blender coordinates into the mix.
Up until this point, it's the same as for the RF blocks.

Cross cut the above strip sets into three 3.25" wide strips.
Assemble into 9Patch blocks.
These 9Patch blocks should measure 8.75" UNFINISHED.

-----------------
Ignoring the additional fabrics you're adding, each 10" starting square will render an 8.25" FINISHED square (in some fashion) for your quilt.

So in an 8x10 block layout, the quilt size will be approx 66" x 82.5".
With the additional fabrics, you'll be able to make it even bigger.

Love, love, love Japanese fabrics.
Sounds like your quilt will be lovely.

Hi MTS

Thank you so much for the great instructions, it is just what I needed and seeing it all written down it all makes sense. Will start cutting and sewing tomorrow and when finished will post a picture. Thanks again for the great help.
Judy

Another place to get great ideas is go to missouristarquiltco.com & they have wonderful tutorials that you can look up.

Can't wait to see some of your work :)

Thanks for the web address. will have a look at that.

Judy