I have the Go die for the 3" finished triangle in a square shapes. No guess work, all the pieces matches perfectly. My blocks may be smaller but they sure look good. I haven't looked to see if there is a die for the bigger size.

I love that block. I prefer to do those star points with paper piecing, although many I know don't. When I have been in danger of cutting off points, I generally find that I have either placed pieces against each other incorrectly or made a seam allowance that is too small.

cut a quarter inch off the top of the middle triange, then line up like the second pic

I have used two rulers to make a TIS unit. The Tri-recs works great, but I also love the Deb Tucker V-block trimmer. You can see her demo video on youtube. The advantage of the Tri-recs is that it is available at Jo-Ann and you can use a coupon. If you can't pick up a specialty ruler before you need your quilt finished, there are some excellent suggestions above that should help you. I'm basically lazy and a gadget nut, so I like to let the rulers do some of the work for me. :-)

Darren

I really dislike the tri-recs ruler. Tried it for the TIS unit and none came out square. I much prefer Deb Tucker or the Eleanor Burns TIS template, which you can get at JoAnns. I get a consistent result with either of those methods.

Wow, you guys are awesome! Thank you for sharing your wisdom, and for taking the time to post diagrams. I'm going to try everything suggested. If all else fails, I'll buy the ruler at JoAnn's with my 50% off coupon.

Thanks again :thumbup:

You can also mark the seam intersections and match them up

I agree that the triangle in a square unit (Doreen Speckmann called that unit " peaky and spike") can be a bit a
Of a challenge to get right.

I am piecing that block right now and for the first time ever, my block is square and exactly the right size with no chopped off points. The secret ........ I'm using Marti Michell's Perfect Patchwork Templates, Set D number 22 and 23. The points are trimmed and her instructions were spot on. I think that this is one block that is difficult without a ruler or templates. Starching and very careful pressing helped but didn't totally solve the problem.

Could the pieces be cut a bit larger than they should be and trimmed later? So far I have managed to avoid these kinds of patterns. I guess I know my limitations.

I made a quilt like this using Eleanor Burns' ruler and her book Tennessee Waltz.