Following on from my previous post, Half Square Triangle Tutorial Part 1, here are picture tutorials on making 8 HSTs at a time or making 1 HST from triangles.
8 AT A TIME HSTs
This method can be used if you want 8 HSTs in the same colourway
To achieve 2 1/2″ unfinished squares cut a 6″ square from your two fabrics
Draw two diagonal lines, corner to corner on one of the squares
Place fabrics right sides together as accurately as possible
Sew a line of stitching a 1/4″ away from the line on either side
Repeat for the other line
I tend to move my needle position over one click so that it is a scant 1/4″ seam
I also tend to shorten my stitch length to 2 because the stitching is going to be cut (this is something new to me and I don’t always remember as you may be able to see one stitch line is in my regular 2.5!) – I find this helps with keep the seams together when they are being handled and joined
Place ruler through the centre cross and align top and bottom squarely – cut
Rotate the ruler by 90 degrees and repeat
Place ruler on a diagonal pencil line and cut
Rotate the ruler onto the other diagonal pencil line and cut
You end up with 8 HSTs measuring slightly more than 2 1/2″
Trim HSTs to 2 1/2″
I use a smaller cutting ruler, this one is 4 1/2″ square, and line up the 45 degree line with the join line in the fabric
Trim two sides and then rotate the block and trim the other two sides to 2 1/2″
I do own a 2 1/2″ cutting square which would mean I would not have to pick up the ruler, rotate the fabric and replace the ruler, but then I am cutting at funny angles and, alas, I do not yet own a rotating cutting mat!
I also know Bloc-Loc rulers make this job easy but to use them you need to press your seams to the side
And there you have 8 HSTs ready for your block or project
Now what do you do if you don’t necessarily want to double (quadruple or octuple – is that even a word?) up on your HSTs? You sew on the bias. Please don’t look away it really is not scary!
1 AT A TIME HSTs – in different colourways!
Cut 3″ squares from your fabric
Cut each square in half along the diagonal, from corner to corner
These cut edges are now on the bias, which is a much more unstable grain of the fabric – it will pull out of shape quite easily if manhandled
However, handled carefully it really is easy to sew – no matter what you have heard before!!
Place fabric in required colour pattern
Sew along the long bias edge with a 1/4″ seam, taking care not to pull the fabric whilst sewing
You end up with HSTs that can be trimmed to the required 2 1/2″
The beauty of this method is you can see your design ahead of time and it is especially useful if you design and sew quilts ad hoc using a design wall
I would love to know if you use any of these methods and what you think.
And what did I make with all these HSTs?! A Sewcial Bee Sampler Quilt.