Quilter's Math - UGH ! ! ! Help Please ! ! !
 

Hi All . . .

Working from "Patchwork: Comforters, Throws, & Quilts" Published by House of White Birches & edited by Stauffer & Hatch" page 68-71.

Found this wonderful fabric with embossed gold/mettalic flower oblongs that measure 7-5/8" X 8-3/8". Decided to cut them down to 7" squares (I'll get more than enough of the design & refuse to go out of my mind over 1/8" intervals). Now. . . here's the equation:

What would be the setting triangles & the corner HST. . . . these are the book measurements:

Decorative A squares: 10" - mine will be 7"
Setting Triangle B squares: 14-3/4" - What would mine be?
HST corner C squares: 7-5/8 - What would mine be?

What would the B & C squares measurements be? Or is it possible just to subtract 3" from all measurements (since I cut the original 10" to a 7")? Please forgive the simplicity of this question, but I need guidance from all you veterans out there to make my life easier.

My utmost thanks in advance for all the great advice.

This page explains setting and corner triangles - http://quiltville.com/onpointmath.shtml - remember to use your FINISHED block size when using the table. I'm not sure whether you mean that you cut your fabric into 7" squares (so 6.5" would be the finished size) or 7.5" squares (so 7" would be the finished size). In the example from the book, the finished block size was 9.5" and the squares were cut (unfinished) at 10".

I find it easiest to put the design on graph paper as the original and then work out the new dimensions below it. Much less math involved!

So ... The original ones would be a cut 10" sq (finished up at 9.5) with a cut 14.75 setting triangle so ... at a cut 7" (finished up at 6.5) square for Dec A the setting triangle would be cut at 10.5" then cut on the diagonal both ways (like an X ). When I do setting triangles I always cut them larger (I would cut min of 11" sq here ). As far as the HSTs ?? I assume that you are referring to the corner setting triangles / for a 6.5" finished sq, those would be cut at 5.5" with one cut on the diagonal .

Groovy, I have a wonderful reference book called All-in-one Quilter's Reference Tool by Harriet Hargrove, Sharyn Craig, Alex Anderson and Liz Aneloski which I was able to put my hands on. I'm taking your 7 inches as a finished size, which would make setting triangles (side) cut at an 11.25 inch square. Your corner triangle will start as 5-7/8 inch squares (I'd make them 6 and trim down the sides before putting on the borders. If your 7 inch block is NOT finished (making a 6.5 inch finished block) your setting squares would need to be 101.5 inches and corner squares at 5.5 inches. Good luck! Hope this helps.

Linda in Missouri

I would draw on graft paper and then measure. Would be more accurate in the long run.

Holice,
I swear I just believe you and I are among the "old-timey" quilters who 'came up' in the early 80s when all we *had* were our colored pencils, 6" rulers, and graph paper pads for designing our own blocks and quilts. I'm beginning to feel like a dinosaur every time I urge someone, even a 65 year old, to use this method for figuring out measurements and designs. I'm getting to the place that I'm just going to keep this great tip to myself from now on!:p :D

Jan in VA

No, don't do that Jan. I still draw things on grid paper.

I.ve only been quilting about 5 yrs. i did not start until I retired at age 67. I do blocks on graf paper as well as design my quilts. I have made my own with 1/2" blocks that seem easier to use then preprinted graf paper. Limited budget, so I figure it out best I can. So far all my quilts have 90 degree corners.

So do I!! I print graph paper from the internet and plot it out. Sometimes guess-timating. Just so it's cut a little bigger. Easy to square up. No quilt police around here.

I would cut a 7 inch fabric square in stash fabric and then sew on larger pieces or same size as given in book press and then cut to size . Unpick and measure. It would save the headache .

Please don't do that Jan!! My issue is that if I could have a piece if graph paper 12" square I would do that as well. But, since I had been given EQ as a gift, it is quicker for me to do it up in EQ than tape 4 pieces of graph paper together - lol! That being said I sometimes doodle on graph paper designing blocks. It is easier to erase and move lines on graph paper than on the computer. Also, you do incredible things in Paint.

Jan, add me to your group! Although I "came up" in the early '90s, all I had was graph paper & colored pencils too. I still have my notebooks full of the patterns I made like this. I still keep a pile of scrap paper near my sewing area. Sometimes, I can 'see' the pattern more clearly when I draw it out myself. The sizes and shapes of the pieces and the way they go together will just pop out when I draw it.

I'm another who alternates between EQ and graph paper. Sometimes it's even just grid lines drawn on a napkin or the back of an envelope if inspiration strikes!

You are not the only ones that use graph paper for designing!