LogCabin82

I’m working on a project that has triangles and I want to use Thangles.

So, I needed my triangle square to finish at 1 1/4”, so I got Thangles that say they finish at 1.25”.

But when I make them they don’t finish at 1.25”, they finish at 1.75…. I followed all the directions, what gives?

The square on the left is my Thangle creation and the one on right is one I did without Thangles.

Did they mislabel these? Or am I missing something?

Barb in Louisiana

The Thangles are right. The extra 1/2 inch is your seams for when you sew the blocks together. Finished size will be 1 1/4 inches which is what you want.
The 1 1/4 inch block you did will finish at 3/4 inch when you sew the blocks together.

QuiltE

"Finished" means what the square will finish at, after it is put into the quilt

Your Thangles measurement of 1.75" is what it is before you stitch it in place.
You will lose 1/4" all around for the seam allowance.
And thus, will "finish" at 1.25" once it is stitched into your quilt.

bearisgray

Maybe the term "finished size" is/ was the source of your confusion?

I think QuiltE explained it well.

I now think of " finished size" as the amount of fabric showing after it the quilt is done.

Or as QuiltE said, the unit minus seam allowances.

Example: I want to make a four patch unit that will " finish" at 4x4 square inches.
I will need to cut four pieces of fabric, each measuring 2.5 x 2.5 inches. When I just lay the pieces out. They cover a 5 x 5 inches area.

After I sew the four pieces together. This unit covers an area 4.5 x 4.5 inces.

after I sew this four patch into the top , only 4 x 4 inches of the fabrics are showing.

QuiltE

BearIsGray ... Great explanation of the progression!
Oh how our fabric disappears as we sew it into our quilts!!

Stitches23

Yes. Great explanations. Quilt patterns usually show the block/unit sizes in finished and unfinished sizes. With the unfinished sized being the size of the block or unit before being sewn in the quilt and the finished size being the size of the block or unit after being sewn in the quilt.

So in your example - the Thangles unfinished size is 1.75 inch and the finished size will be 1.25 inch once sewn in the quilt. Difference being the seam allowance.

charlottequilts

Although I can rattle off the math easily enough, I have often been tripped up by the word “finished,” because when you’re done making something and trimming it to size, it feels like you’re finished with it.

I finally started, in my drawings and construction notes, to call things either “finished” or “raw,” and that has cleared it up.

You might need to use your own terms, too.

hugs, charlotte