In October of 2017, I started posting foundation paper pieced patterns for 6” Scrappy (half square) Triangles on my blog every Tuesday. A dedicated handful made one Scrappy Triangle a week for the full year. They were Amazing and I am showcasing some of their gorgeous quilts in this post! (All makers are tagged below their quilt.)

(You can download all the foundations here.)

In 2019, I compiled all of the Scrappy Triangle patterns into one document and as of now, it has been downloaded over 10,000 times! That is a lot of people making Scrappy Triangles!

I thought I would share some ways that people have used their Scrappy Triangles, but these are just a few ideas. Go crazy, use your creativity, and make something beautiful!

Simple Layouts

Sometimes the simplest layouts are the best. The next few quilts are made just with simple half square triangles. The fabric choice is what gives each quilt character.

Alternate the direction the triangles are facing to add interest and movement.

Zigzags!

With a few simple rotations, you can make zigzags across the quilt.

Diagonal Stripes

Rotate a bit more and you have diagonal stripes!

This quilt has subtle diagonal stripes.

The stripes are more prominent in this quilt. What makes the difference? There is greater contrast between the light and dark sides of the block.

Concentric Squares

This is one of my favorite layouts!

Square in a square

The makers of these next quilts took four Scrappy Triangles and turned them inward to make a square-in-a-square shape.

In the quilt above, some of the squares are made with identical blocks and some are made with a variety of blocks.

There are a lot of great secondary designs possible when you combine four of the same blocks. Add in some sashing and you’ve got an amazing quilt!

This is one of my favorite Scrappy Triangle quilts. The secondary designs made by the four Scrappy Triangles are gorgeous!

Only use one or two Scrappy Triangle foundations

If you want a layout that is more controlled, consider making just one or two of the Scrappy Triangles. In the quilt above, two templates are alternated. In the two quilts below, beautiful secondary designs are made when just one block repeats.

Make a jumbo quilt block!

You can also use the 6” Scrappy Triangles in place of smaller half square triangles in traditional quilt block patterns.

This one turned out so cute!

Modern Quilts

Then there are the quilts that don’t have a traditional layout. These makers used their creativity and imagination to make stunning quilts!

Wow! Color placement is everything in this quilt.

The Confluence (of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers) Quilt by @stlmqg Photo by @tracecreekquilting

Go a little crazy!

Sometimes super scrappy is the best.

How fun!

The sky really is the limit! I hope you have gotten some ideas about how you can make your own Scrappy Triangle quilt. Remember, the foundations are free to download here.

Happy sewing!

PS: There are Tiny Scrappy Triangles too!

If you love the 6” Scrappy Triangles and want to make smaller versions, check out the 1”, 2” and 3” Scrappy Triangles in my shop. I also have free tutorials so you can make a Tiny Piecing Sampler with the small Scrappy Triangle foundations. You can find all the info about the sampler and link to all posts here.

Tiny Piecing Sampler (made with 1", 2" and 3" Scrappy Triangles)