Make Fake Diamonds

This trick can be used with any right triangle in any set.

Two right angle triangles may look like they combine to form a diamond, but they really make a parallelogram, or a "fake diamond." Often the seam between the triangles can be eliminated. Parallelograms are asymmetrical. The nature of geometry is that you can make parallelograms with two right triangles by overlapping one leg or the other. In the first orientation, the second leg is on the straight grain of the fabric. You would cut the strip the width of the leg.

In the second orientation, the hypotenuse is on the straight grain and you would cut the strip the narrower width. Refer to the Strip Charts on the inside front and back covers for strip widths.

Cutting parallelograms is similar to cutting the larger triangles. Make the first diagonal cut.

Then flip the template and align it with the straight edges of the strip so the corner angles fit in place with the first cut you made. Make the second diagonal cut.

 

Excerpted from the Encyclopedia of Patchwork Blocks, Volume 1 published by Michell Marketing, Inc. ©1995 Martha G. Michell