How to Make a Triangles Quilt Block - Free Tutorial

Today let's sew together the Triangles quilt block. This traditional Triangles quilt block only uses Flying Geese and Half Square Triangles to make a delightful pattern. It's not too difficult - a confident beginner will be able to sew it together with beautiful results! Let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Triangles Quilt Block:

• Light/Ivory: 1 - 4.5" square, 12 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, 2 - 3" squares, and 4 - 2.5" squares
• Medium/Coral Print: 2 - 3" squares, and 8 - 2.5" squares
• Dark/Coral: 8 - 2.5" squares

Sewing Directions:

Half Square Triangle Units:

Step 1:

First thing is to make four Half Square Triangle units as shown below using the Medium/Coral Print 3" squares and the Light/Ivory 3" squares. Trim/square up the units to 2.5". You can find my method for making a Half Square Triangle block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Flying Geese Units:

Step 2:

Using four of the Light/Ivory 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and the eight Medium/Coral Print 2.5" squares, sew together four Flying Geese units as shown below. You will find my tutorial for making a basic Flying Geese block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block 

Step 3:

Now you can sew together four more Flying Geese units using the Dark/Coral 2.5" squares in place of the Medium/Coral Print 2.5" squares from Step 2.

Step 4:

Pair up a Step 2 unit and a Step 3 unit as shown in the picture below.

Step 5:

Sew the two units together and press the seam allowance toward the unit with the Medium/Coral Print fabric as shown below.

Corner Units:

Step 6:

Now you can pair up one of the Half Square Triangle units with a Light/Ivory 2.5" square and sew together as shown in the picture below. Press the seam allowance toward the Medium/Coral Print fabric. Repeat for a total of four units.

Step 7:

Take one of the Step 6 units and pair it up with a Light/Ivory 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles. Sew the two patches together and press the seam allowance toward the Step 6 unit as shown below. Repeat for a total of four units.

Putting It All Together:

Step 8:

From here the Triangles block goes together like a typical Nine Patch block. Lay out the Light/Ivory 4.5" square, the Flying Geese units, and the Corner units as shown below.

Step 9:

Sew the units together into three rows as shown in the picture below.

Step 10:

Press the seam allowances toward the Flying Geese units.

Step 11:

Sew the three rows together and you're done!

Step 12:

Well, except for the pressing. Press seam allowances away from the center of the block as shown in the picture below.

Conclusion:

The Triangles quilt pattern was fun to sew together. If I had pressed the seam allowances in the Half Square Triangle units toward the Light/Ivory fabric, I think it would be less bulky at the seam intersections. The original pattern only used a light and a dark fabric but I had to make it my own by adding in another color. I love the look of it and I think a nice secondary design emerges when multiple blocks are sewn together. Give it a try!

Layout Options:

Just a couple of layout options for this block so you can get a feel for what it would look like in a quilt.

Here is just a simple 4 x 4 layout with two borders.

In this one, I've just added sashing in between the blocks.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial for the Triangles block. If you liked this post and want to see more quilting tutorials like this, simply click here to sign up for my newsletter and also receive a free PDF quilt pattern called Chained Weathervane.

Happy Quilting!

Elaine

P.S. To print a PDF of this tutorial, check out the free app at https://www.printfriendly.com/. A reader and I tried it out and it worked great.

P.P.S. To figure out yardage for a quilt, check out this post: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-much-fabric-do-i-need