Give It a Whirl quilt
 

I was in keepsake quilting and looked at kits. one was Give It A Whirl and came with a video. she started with ten inch pieces, placed two together and sewed all around the edges. then cut X across to make hst's. then she trimmed each hst to 6 1/2 inches. how did she get four 6 1/2 inch from ten inch cuts of fabric? must have been larger. i just can't see it if not. she then adds strips so each one is 8 1/2 and four together makes 16 inch blocks. anyone made this? OK< my lovely son said it's because the cuts are across the corners. makes each cut and sewn hst larger. my poor brain is going to bed. i know he's right but still, such a simple thing and it eluded me! nighty night

There are many patterns that cut diagonally across and the block will be bigger then the starting size. Amazing how many will say that is not possible. LOL

Someone will be able to respond with the proper math explanation but remember they are sewing 2 10" pieces together and cutting on the diagonal.
i have not made this quilt.

I've never made that pattern, but I just drew a rough sketch on graph paper (I'm not that good at my geometry anymore :o ) and I have no idea how she gets 6 1/2 inch.

It's because with TWO 10" pieces of fabric, the area is 200 square inches total fabric. The diagonal measurement of 10" square is 14" inches. That would leave you with four 7" squares after cutting both directions, then the seam allowances take up 1/2". That leaves you with four 6 1/2" HST's.

Yes, it's simple. The diagonal of a 10" square is about 14" so the outside edges of the HSTs would be more than 6".

BUT the reason I do not recommend this method for HSTs is because the resulting HSTs have bias edges along their outside edges, yuck!

Try cutting your basic squares at 10" -- or maybe even 10.5" -- draw a diagonal line in each direction and in half thru the middle both directions.

Sew 1/4" away from those two diagonal lines, on each side of them. Then cut on the drawn lines. Press and trim.

Jan in VA

CORRECTION!! Mistake in the drawn lines/cutting lines in the above comment:
Please disregard the vertical and horizontal lines -- do not draw or cut on these. The graphic was created for another purpose but can serve for this explanation if the lines thru the middle of the square are ignored.

Thanks! Sorry!

Jan in VA

OK, here's the math. The diagonal measurement of a square is roughly 1.41 times the length. So the diagonal measurement of a 10" square is a bit over 14 inches. When you cut the X in the square you cut the diagonal in half, so each HST is 7" less the seam allowance.
But I'm with Jan. Even if I starch everything, I pull these bias pieces out of shape. Most people have no problems with them, however.

agree with Cass62 - think of the "volume" of the fabric squares, not the outer dimensions... two 10" pieces = 200 square inches - divide by 4 (the final number of squares) to get 50 square inches per final square...the seam allowances reduce the measurable square inches per final square. 50 square inches is roughly 7 x 7 inches....

Jan, I may be missing something here or just plain dense (probably the second!) but don't you still end up with bias edges on the outer edges of the produced blocks?

have done a similar pattern and you do end up with diagonals on outer edges--helps to starch first.

So what is the difference if you sew all around your square and cut it on the diagonal. Either way you end up with bias. Sewing around the square is faster to me than drawing all those lines. Help me see the difference and the efficiency please.

Jan's directions make great HSTs which don't stretch because the diagonals are stitched before they are cut, thus stabilizing the bias edge.

Hey Jan where are you? I need your help understanding your hst drawing. I guess my dyslexia has kicked in but I still cannot see how this idea makes hst. Please come back and explain.

No, the bias seams are the ones sewn together in the middle of the square.
The outside edges remain on the outside and they are not bias.

take 2 scraps and try it - it works!

I did try this with two squares of paper but I do not see how you can even open the pieces up let alone end up with four hst. I know I have used a similar method in the not so recent past but it seems to me that the sewing part might be wrong. I feel like the diagonal sewing should be in the opposite direction. Maybe I need to get new glasses .... or better yet a new brain. I am off to my studio to try this with fabric. Maybe it will all make sense to me by doing that.

Jan's drawing is correct. You need to cut on the vertical and horizontal red lines as well as the diagonal red lines. The result will be 8 HST. The outside edges of the blocks are all on the straight of grain.

Jan, I suppose by now you have realized that those vertical and horizontal lines need to be cut or you won't be able to open anything. That produces 8 HSTs as techsewer said. Now all we need to know is how big to cut the first two squares to make our HTSs big enough. And how big would our HTSs be if we used 10 inch squares. I say they will be about 4.5 finished.
To make a 6.5 finished HTS, you need squares at least 14 inches. Am I correct?