Half Rectangle Triangle (HRT)

Half Rectangle Triangle (HRT) Block Unit in PreQuilt

This more intermediate or advanced block unit can be tough to nail in the sewing room. But it's pretty easy peasy in PreQuilt.

Similar to rectangles, half rectangle triangles are manipulated half square triangles that are stretched to fit a rectangular shape instead of a square.

And since the idea behind this series is to build a block unit (not an entire block that is just a half rectangle triangle), I'm going to create a 12" finished block that has half rectangle triangle block units in it (like for example, a simple, scrappy Diamond quilt block).

YouTube Video

Coming soon...

Help Guide

1. Click on the BLOCKS tab on the left side control panel.

   
2. Click on the Make Custom Block button.

   
3. The Block Editor panel will slide out and overtake your screen. My block is set to 6" x 12" finished, but it doesn't matter, the next steps will work for all sized blocks.

4. Set your grid guidelines by changing the number for the horizontal and vertical units.

   • Since I'm going to be creating a scrappy Diamonds quilt block, I'll set my gridlines to 2 horizontal and 4 vertical units.

   

   
5. Click on the half square triangle shape () from the central control panel.

6. One half square triangle will be added to the block space. Move it into the correct position by clicking on the shape on the block space and moving it to where it belongs.

   

   
7. We now need to stretch the HST so that it's rectangular. Grab the square on the top side of the HST and drag it until the triangle fills the height of only 2 vertical grid spaces.

   • Note: If the snap to grid is turned on (default) then the shape will automatically fill the grid space.

   

   
8. With the half rectangle triangle shape selected, click on the Clone button () on the central control panel.

   
9. Click on the Link button for a different fabric link (so that there are 2 different fabrics being used in your half rectangle triangle block (unit). In this example, I'll link the new HRT to Fabric Link B.

   
10. Click on the Rotate button () on the central control panel so that it is in the correct orientation.

    

    
11. Move the new half rectangle triangle piece so it fills the empty half of the quilt block unit. It should snap into place and be snug with the first half square triangle piece.

    
12. Repeat Steps 5-11, but make sure to create a mirror version of the first half rectangle triangle.

    

    
13. With the ALL the half rectangle triangle shapes selected, click on the Clone button () on the central control panel.

14. Rotate and move the new half rectangle triangle block units so they fill the empty half of the scrappy Diamond quilt block. They should snap into place.

    

Sewing Construction Diagrams

1 at a Time (Subcut) Method

2 at a Time Method