Tutorial - Dog-Eared Triangle

I don't know what anyone else calls this triangle, but I call it "Dog-Eared".  I take the term from what we used to do (before we knew better) to books when we didn't have a bookmark handy; we'd fold down the corner of the page.  The two triangles remind me of those "Dog Ears"!

Dog-Eared Triangle

I've found this triangle used quite a bit while making the blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along.  It is made up of a square in the center with two smaller triangles attached to adjacent sides of the square to form a larger triangle.

Read my tutorial for a fool-proof way to make these perfectly every time.



Let's start by looking at the geometry of the finished triangle.  The center piece is a square that measures half the size of the two equal sides of the finished triangle.  For example, if the two equal sides of the finished triangle are 2 inches, then the square in the center is one inch.  That means that if we were to take those two small triangles and butt the long edges together, they would form a square that is also one inch.  The size of the center square piece is the central measurement to the instructions below and called X in the instructions.

Geometry of the Dog-Eared Triangle

1. Start by cutting one square that is X + 1/2 inch from fabric A.
2. Next, cut one square that is X + 7/8 inch from fabric B. 
   
3. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the larger square cut from fabric B.
4. Cut on that line to create two triangles.
   
   
5. Sew the two triangles (B) to the square (A).
   
   
   
   
6. Trim the tails and iron flat.
   

There are a lot of different, interesting ways this can come together, so keep an eye out for this when piecing those hard-looking blocks!

• With an HST in the center square.
• With an Hourglass block in the center square.
• With an HST, split and used in the triangle spots.

Hint: We'll be using this method on some of the blocks in the Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along.