Triangle Salad, Tutorial #5

This is the final tutorial for making triangle squares! Next week, we’re gonna start making blocks out of all the units you’ve made so far — woohoo!

For this last tutorial, we’re using Triangles on a Roll. The finished size of the ones we’re using is 1 1/2″. So that’s the size paper you’ll need to have. As with the other papers, the size you’re making determines how many are on each section of paper.

Triangles on a Roll are just that — the paper comes on a roll, and you cut off how much you need for what you’re making.

If you don’t have Triangles on a Roll paper, and don’t want to get any, simply go back to either Tutorial #1 or Tutorial #2 and use the formulas provided to make your units in the correct size for this week (1 1/2″ finished).

If you’re using the paper, here’s the step-by-step instructions.

The Method:
First, decide how many half-square triangles you want to make all alike. I chose the number 24. I’m making 24 identical units. So I counted across, and each row on the paper makes 8 units, so I cut off 3 rows from my roll:

Right on the paper, it says how wide to cut your fabric. In this case, it’s 9 3/4″. The length is determined by how many rows you’re making, so you need to measure it. For my 3 rows, I need 7 1/2″. (I added just a tidget more so I would have a little wiggle room when lining everything up.)

So cut two pieces of fabric 7 1/2″ x 9 3/4″, one from a print, and one from your background fabric.

Layer these two pieces right sides together, and place the paper on top of it.

Pin the paper in place on the fabric. I used pins in all the open areas, so they’re not in the way of my stitching.

Now for the sewing part. Again, I lowered the stitch length on my machine, to make the paper a little easier to tear off.

Choose a line to begin stitching on.

Their instructions say to stitch in the direction of the arrows. However, that gets kind of chopped up sometimes, depending on how many rows you’ve chosen to use from your roll. So it’s really NOT that important to sew in the direction of the arrows, as long as you’re covering every dotted line with stitching.

Also, you’ll notice that some of the dotted lines cross the intersections, and some don’t. Where the dotted lines don’t cross the intersections, you can still pretend that they do, if it makes your stitching route easier. Just sew right on across — it won’t hurt a thing.

Once you have all the dotted lines covered with stitching, it’s time to trim.

First, trim the edges even with the paper on the sides that came off the roll:

Then trim the sides off the paper on the solid lines at the other two edges:

Now you’re ready to cut them apart. Cut on all the solid lines. I laid mine down, and without moving it, I made all the cuts. This is what I ended up with:

Then you can tear off the paper:

Press the units open:

Trim those pesky dog ears:

And you’re all done!

I ended up with 24 neat little units, lickety split, measuring 2″ each, very accurately.

I also repeated it, using only one row off the roll, which works almost like Thangles!

I ended up with 8 cute little units from this attempt.

So you can use as many or as few rows from your paper as you like. Just decide how many units you want to be all alike, and go for it.

You guessed it, there’s no formula for this method, either. You just have to purchase the size paper you need!

Advantages of using this method:

• It’s easy!
• It’s very accurate.
• There’s no drawing lines on the backs of the squares.
• If you need a lot of units, and it doesn’t matter if there are several that are all alike, this is a very good method to use.
• It allows you to use large pieces of fabric; no cutting tiny pieces.

Disadvantages of using this method:

• You have to purchase the roll of paper.
• If you need extreme variety in your project, and don’t want multiple units all alike each time, you’ll want to choose a different method.
• You have to tear the paper off the back of each one.
• If you use too many rows all at once, the piece gets rather unwieldy.

For the Quilt-Along:
For the Triangle Salad quilt, the units we need this time should measure 2″ (unfinished), to finish at 1 1/2″ in the quilt, which means you need to use the 1 1/2″ Triangles on a Roll.

You will need to make 32 units using a print fabric with a background fabric. If you chose to do 4 rows from your roll, you’d have them all in one attempt, and they’d all be alike. If you’d like a larger variety, you can split your rows up and use a different print each time.

You will need to make 48 units using two print fabrics together. So this means you could use 6 rows from your paper and have them done all at once. Or, for more variety, you can split the rows up and use different prints each time.

Store these 80 finished half-square triangle units in one of your ziplock baggies, and stick in with them the label that says 1 1/2″ Finished.

When you’re done with this tutorial, you’ll have made all the half-square triangle units you’ll need for your quilt. If you aren’t happy with the variety you have, simply make more! At the end, I’ll have a few suggestions for things you can do if you have any leftover units, so don’t be afraid to make as big a variety as you want from any of the sizes. That way, you’ll have plenty to choose from when making all your blocks.

And next Monday, we’ll start making those blocks, so be sure and check back!