All About Triangle Quilts! An Equilateral Triangle Quilts Tutorial

Hi!  Have you been wanting to make a Triangle Quilt?  Well, read on – we’ve got you covered!  When we received a custom order request for a baby boy triangle quilt using white, blue, and gray, we thought that this was the perfect time to show you how we create amazing triangle quilts.  Aaannd – we created a SkillShare class on how to make a Triangle Quilt!  Whoohoo!

Lindy J Quilts Triangle Quilts.

Here are two of our favorite triangle quilts.  The were so much fun to make!

Cutting – Using a Die vs Using a Ruler for Equilateral Triangles

Cutting equilateral triangles is not as straight-forward as it sounds.  Sure you could roll your fabric through a cutting tool like Accuquilt, but we found that there’s too much fabric waste, and honestly, the cut fabric isn’t as accurate as we’d like.

Our method involves cutting half triangles for the left and right sides of your quilt top, rather than creating a bunch of whole triangles and trimming down the quilt top.

Our List of Supplies for Our Equilateral Triangles:

Quilt in a Day Equilateral Triangle Ruler.

The ruler comes with clear, concise instructions, but we still got a little stumped when it came to the half triangles you need at the end of your rows.

But you will need these awesome TrueGrips to stick on to your ruler.

These little things keep your ruler in place and will give you more accurate cuts.

You will need a cutting mat, 24” cutting ruler, and a rotary blade.

Solid fabric cutting – this is pretty straight forward.

Step 1 – Cut Strips of Fabric at Desired Triangle Height Not Height Including Seam Allowance!

We skipped this important step when we first started cutting our triangles, but learned very quickly that by not cutting your initial strip at the FINISHED Height results in a triangle with one side longer than the other two.

Step 2 – Trim Selvage Off of One Side

Step 3 – Line ruler up so that you have the seam allowance.

Do This:

Not This:

Step 4 – Cut on the Diagonal – This will give you your first half triangle

Step 5 – Flip Ruler Upside Down and Cut on Diagonal.

Step 6 – Repeat Down the Rows

Step 7- Trim Edge

Step 8 – Flip fabric over, line up ruler, and trim the half triangle

How to Cut Triangles and Half Triangles on Printed Fabric

Prints – well, you have to do a little planning for the HALF TRIANGLES you will need at the end of your rows.

Here’s the thing, we found that if you cut prints using the steps above, well, you cut a whole bunch one-sided triangles that will not work on the other side of your rows!

TIP: Here’s how to get the other triangle half.

Cut your triangles with your fabric upside-down!

By flipping your fabric to right-side-down, you reverse the angle of the triangle.  Cutting your fabric this way gives you the other half to your triangles!

Pretty nifty, huh?

So for prints, keep in mind that you need to cut about half your fabric rows upside-down, and you will end up with an equal amount of right and left triangles!

How to Sew the Triangles

Line up two edges.  The points should stick out on both sides.  Sew together with ¼” seam allowance.

Add half triangles to end.

How to Press the Triangles

Press seams all to one side for a row and then all to the opposite side for the next row.  This is so helpful for nesting your seams and lining up your triangle points!

Nest your rows and make sure your points line up.  Definitely use pins for this step to help hold your rows together.

We hope you enjoyed our Equilateral Triangle tutorial and tips and we want you to give them a try!  Triangle quilts are modern and so much fun to create!

Click below for a printable pdf of this tutorial.

Here’s a sneak peek of the quilt top! ***UPDATE*** – Here is a link to the finished quilt!

Be sure to check out our Triangle Quilt SkillShare class!  Mom and I had so much fun creating small video classes that will take you through the entire Triangle Quilt making process!

See you soon!

Jenn and Linda