Using Quarter Inch · Blocks
Design hexagon, diamond and tumbling block quilts
Hexagons, tumbling blocks, triangles and 45° diamonds, drawn exactly: in a new quilt, in the library, and on the block editor’s own grids.
The short answer
Make hexagon, triangle and tumbling block quilts, or draw blocks on 45° and 60° grids, all drawn exactly. For a quilt, choose Hexagons, Triangles or Tumbling blocks in New quilt’s Layout step. To draw a block, choose Draw a new block, then 45° star or 60° triangles under What kind of grid?
Not every quilt is made of squares. Quarter Inch draws 60° diamonds, hexagons and triangles, and 45° diamonds, exactly: their points are worked out in exact numbers, never rounded, so a hexagon’s six sides really meet. You meet them in three places: the layouts, the block library, and the block editor’s 45° and 60° grids.
A quilt of hexagons, diamonds or triangles
Choose New quilt, then Guided, and a size under How big?
Under Layout, in Diamonds and hexagons, choose Hexagons, Triangles, Tumbling blocks or One big star.
Hexagons ask how they’re sewn. By hand, over papers sizes them by Each side (¾″, 1″, 1¼″ and 1½″), as English paper piecing papers are sold. By machine sizes them Across the flats (2″, 3″, 4″, 5″ and 6″), as hexagon rulers measure.
Hexagons: how they’re sewn decides how they’re measured. Choose the Edges: Trimmed straight, so the quilt is a rectangle and the shapes at the edge are cut large and trimmed, or the shapes’ own Zigzag. Then Next: fabrics.
Hexagons are colored Flowers (a center, its petals and a path, as Grandmother’s Flower Garden) or One by one. In the designer, Paint names its reaches for these shapes. Hexagon sizes for English paper piecing has the sizes worked out.
Blocks for hexagon quilts
The library’s Sixty-degree blocks, such as the Tumbling Block and Hexagon Star, are hexagons themselves, so they go in a hexagon layout, not a square one. Their page says so, and Add to a quilt lists only quilts with hexagons. Use in a new quilt starts tumbling blocks with it.
Draw on a 45° or 60° grid
Open Blocks, then My blocks, and choose Draw a new block.
Under What kind of grid?, choose 45° star or 60° triangles.
- 45° star: How many diamonds a point? (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). One diamond a point is a Le Moyne Star; more make Lone Stars and Broken Stars.
- 60° triangles: the Shape (Hexagon, Triangle or Diamond) and How many triangles a side? (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12). A hexagon of 2 is a Tumbling Block; of 3, a Hexagon Star.
A hexagon of 60° triangles. Every point is exact. Draw with Line, Units, Erase and Color, as on squares. Repeat what I draw offers the turns each grid has: see Repeat.
A block drawn as a hexagon goes in a hexagon layout. A triangle goes in a triangle layout, which holds plain triangles for now, and there isn’t a layout of 60° diamonds yet, so the editor says so before you place them.
How they’re cut
- From strips, on the ruler’s 45° or 60° line, when a diamond’s or triangle’s height is a whole eighth of an inch. The chart gives the strip width and the cut.
- Cut large and trimmed at the edge of a quilt or block, where an exact cut isn’t possible.
- From a template, at true size, everywhere else, with a dot at each corner where a set-in seam starts or stops. See How to sew Y-seams.
Sizes that aren’t a whole eighth are said “about”, never rounded. A quilt sewn by hand over papers has Paper pieces instead of a cutting chart: see Paper pieces for English paper piecing.
On an iPad or a phone
Every layout and grid here is on the Free plan, for up to 3 quilts at a time. Templates, papers, the cutting chart and printing need Quilter.
If it doesn’t look right
- A size says “about”. It isn’t a whole eighth of an inch. The quilt keeps it exact; nothing you sew is rounded.
- A hexagon block won’t go in a quilt of squares. It goes in a hexagon layout. Start one with Use in a new quilt.
- A line wasn’t drawn on the star grid. It would land off the grid’s points. The editor says why; draw it to a point nearby.
Checked against the app on
Questions
Short answers.
Something else? A real person replies.
hello@quarterinch.app
Can I design a hexagon quilt for English paper piecing?
Yes. Choose Hexagons and By hand, over papers. They’re sized by the side, as papers are sold, and the quilt gets Paper pieces to print.
How do I design a tumbling blocks quilt?
Choose Tumbling blocks in New quilt’s Layout step, then each diamond’s height and the cubes across.
Can I draw my own hexagon block?
Yes. In the block editor choose 60° triangles, then Hexagon, and how many triangles a side.