Also known as: HST, Triangle Square
One square cut corner to corner into a dark and a light triangle; the unit many pieced blocks are built from.
The quickest HST method uses two squares placed right sides together. Draw a diagonal line on the lighter fabric, sew a quarter inch on each side of the drawn line, then cut along the line to yield two identical HST units. Press the seam toward the darker fabric and trim to the exact target size. For batch production, the eight-at-a-time method using larger starter squares dramatically speeds up the process. Always verify that your finished HST measures the target size plus half an inch for seam allowances before assembling into larger blocks.
Four paws, each a large square with two half-square-triangle claws along each of its two outer sides and a small background square in the outer corner, separated by sashing strips around a centre square.
A centre square wrapped in five rounds of logs that spiral around it, one log per side in turn; the logs on two adjacent sides are light and the other two are dark, so the block divides into light and dark halves along a diagonal.
An eight-pointed star of 45-degree diamonds, each point pieced from small diamonds in rings of colour that radiate from the centre, with set-in background corners and side triangles.
A nine-patch star: plain corners, a centre square, and quarter-square-triangle side units whose triangles form eight points.
Four large half-square triangle units in the corners with their inner halves framing a centre cross of five squares, the edge and centre squares in one fabric and the squares between them in another.
Two large half-square triangles meet at the centre on one diagonal; the other two quarters each hold a square, a background square and two small triangles.