Designing Ways: Half Cousins, Log cabin and Half Square Triangles

half square triangle

 Last time we talked about the log cabin block functioning as a half triangle block. We're going to show you how that works.
We have our half triangle block. It's the building block for many more complicated block, but for now we're going to call it a quilt block on it's own. It's 2 45 degree triangles sewed together.

log cabin

Here's our log cabin. No triangles in sight. Instead it's made of straight rectangles.But the effect is so similar that you can use them interchangeably.


How does that work in a quilt block? You can take any quilt block and swap a log cabin block for a half square triangle. Really!

Straight Furrow half square triangle

These lay outs are both called a straight furrow pattern
Here's a classic half square triangle version,

Here's the log cabin version.

And just if you thought they didn't mix, here's a quilt using both.

Functionally they are absolutely interchangeable.

That means that any pattern using half square triangles can instantly become a log cabin, or visa versal

Here's several examples

Barn raising hst

Barn raising log cabin

Ohio Star hst

Log Cabin Star
How can you choose?Here's a comparison.

Half square triangle                         Log Cabin

Bias pieces                                     Straight grain piecing

Quicker piecing                               Easier piecing

Graphically simpler                         Graphically complex    

Can you make a mistake? Don't be silly. It's all part of the fun dance of design.