8 Ways to Use Leftover Scrap Triangles

Leftover scrap triangles are a common occurrence in when sewing quilt blocks. They are the result of making any quilt block unit that uses the easy corner triangle method, like flying geese, or more recently around here, the method used to make the Ribbon blocks.

If you’ve been sewing along with the Happy Scrappy QAL, then you will have a pile of 40 scrap triangles from making 20 Ribbon blocks. These need not go to waste! Here’s 8 ways to use leftover scrap triangles.

 

Make half-square triangles
One quick way to make use of these triangles is to sew a second seam a 1/2″ away from the original seam. That way, when you trim the quilt block unit, the triangles are already sewn into half-square triangles (HSTs)! If you didn’t sew them as you go, simply pair the triangles and sew them into HSTs. You will need to then trim them to be square, and if they’re all from the same project, trim them all the same size.

Scrappy HST quilt by @curlyquesue

From the Ribbon block leftovers, you’ll trim them to 2 1/2″ square, which makes them 2″ finished once they’re sewn to something else. So you could then use them for any pattern that uses 2″ finished HSTs! Or sew them together into other formations like pinwheel blocks.

 

Make pinwheel blocks
Once you’ve made HSTs, group them into sets of four and sew them together to make pinwheels.

 

Make hourglass blocks
Sew the triangles into pairs along the shorter edges, and sew the pairs together to make hourglass blocks.

 

Make flying geese blocks
This is a slightly more complicated option, in that you need to make sure add a seam allowance at the top of the unit so that your main triangle (the goose) doesn’t lose the point when it’s sewn together. To do this, make sure you overhang the side triangles (the sky) at the top. Then trim to size, making sure to leave a 1/4″ of overhang at the top.

Use them with squares of background fabric

Here’s some options for using the individual triangles with squares of background fabric (scrap or yardage!) to create other scrap quilt options.

Scrappy butterfly quilt by @curlyquesue

Make scrappy improv butterfly blocks
This is a great way to really make the triangles go far. Sew one to the corner of a square of background fabric like you would for snowball blocks or flying geese, making sure that the triangle ends overlap the edge of the square a little. Trim the excess background fabric. Press the triangle open and trim the block to be square.

You then rotate each block to create a “butterfly” across the rows of the quilt. Or perhaps “bowties” if you prefer to call them that!

Scrappy triangle quilt by @janepipkeandherpins

 

Make improv star blocks
If you’re a star quilt block love like me, then this will appeal to you – sew two triangles to adjacent corners of a background square, and use four of these blocks and 5 other background squares to create a nine-patch star block.

 

Scrappy pineapple quilt blocks by @curlyquesue

Make scrappy pineapple quilt blocks

You can find a great tutorial for pineapple quilt blocks here at Crazy Mom Quilts that will walk you through how to make pineapple quilt blocks. And instead of using strips for the brighter prints and trimming to triangles, just use the scrap triangles you have (you may need to make the lighter strips skinnier to suit the size of your triangles).

 

And if all else fails and you’re just over them all??

Give them to a friend who loves to use them
This is my favourite method for getting rid of all the triangle offcuts – I keep them all in a big snaplock bag and then eventually pass them on to friends who use them, like my friend, Sue, who’s made most of the scrappy triangle quilts featured in this blog post!