carpenter star pattern
 

Has anyone seen a pattern for this quilt that is not cut up into all those 1/2 square triangles? I have a pattern got at a garage sale and looks like they are mostly squares with different colors on either side, it just seems much easier to do it with the 2 squares and then cut in half. Would love to hear your opinion on this.

It should be easy to figure out how many squares need to be sewn with 2 seams down the middle to do this. Just look at the diagram of the quilt. That's what I'll do when I finally get around to making mine. It will depend on how many colors you are using.

I'm not sure exactly what it is you're asking. Maybe google the official name of the pattern "carpenter's wheel" and click on images, you'll get lots of gorgeous examples.

There are two ways to make the quilt - diamonds or half-square triangles.

Not sure what your question is either. It's either diamonds or HSTs. With the diamonds, you will have to deal with set in seams.

What I'm trying to find out is since this pattern has all the pieces cut into triangles wouldn't it be easier to cut 2 squares and sew down corner to corner then cut apart, then you have to squares instead of trying to sew down bias sides to make the same color combination. Does that make sense? How much larger would you need to make the squares to use this method over the small triangles?
I cut a few triangles and don't like doing it that way. Too much chance for stretching or errors I think.

yes, making half square triangles (what they are called) from two squares is what most people do. me included.

I think there is a measurement to cut your squares when you do HST's. If you want a 2" finished HST, you cut them larger than 2 1/2". Don't know the exact measurement, but someone on here will know.

Most quilters do use the technique that you are describing to make HST. If you are making scrappy ones, it is easiest to cut the size of the finished squared plus 7/8" (most of us just round up), draw a diagonal line and stitch a 1/4" on each side of the line. Now, if you are using the same fabric such as with making a Carpenter's Wheel, you may chose to draw out the squares and diagonally lines, sew on both sides of the diagonal lines and then start cutting on the lines of the square. There are rolls of paper printed grid called Triangles on a Roll that eliminates all the drawing making it much easier. Hope this answers your question..

Now I understand what you're asking. :)

Yes, it would be easier to make HSTs instead of cutting triangles. Maybe this will help - a tutorial showing you 3 different ways of making HSTs, complete with the formulas.

http://www.thatgirlthatquilt.com/201...es-3-ways.html

I recently made some HSTs and used the first formula, where you sew two squares together on all four edges, then cut twice diagonally and get 4 HSTs. You get bias on the edges, but I starched my fabric before cutting and had no problems at all with bias.
You take the size you want your finished block to be and divide by .64, and that is the size square you start out with. I wanted my HSTs to finish at 2". 2 divided by .64 is 3.125, or 3 1/8". I rounded up to 3.25" for cutting the squares and the HSTs turned out nearly perfect, with just the dogears and a few outside threads to trim up.

The easiest way (IMO) to make HST is to use two squares, sew two seams just a 1/4" from a diagonal line, snip and press. Many patterns you'll find will still refer to cut triangles when HST are most efficient.