tutorial
A little while ago, Jenny Doan of the Missouri Star Quilt Company had a tutorial on about HST (half square triangles)
I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it until I revisited it about a little while ago. Then I sat up and took notice. I had been re-working that ruddy Mystery Quilt to my liking and needed some HST’s for cornerstones. I decided to give Jenny’s method a try. This in future will be the only way I ever do them.
I started with 2 ~~ 5” squares
Lay one on top of the other, right sides together, (I chose to pin them) and sew around the edge with a 1/4” seam allowance. As I sewed them I held them taught.
The first one I sewed together I didn’t do any of the above and there was a bit of bunching at the last corner.
After you have it sewn together, press the square to set the seam. Once done
take to your cutting mat and cut your square from corner to corner, and then once again from corner to corner. DO NOT move the square about while cutting. When you are finished cutting, you will have 4 HST’s
I decided to press the seam allowance OPEN and when I did this I gave it a blast of steam, so I knew they were well set.
Look you can make a pinwheel with these.
I trimmed them down to the size I needed which was 2~1/2”. You need a ruler with a 45* angle on it for this next step.
Lay the 45* line on the seam, lining up both sides of the square with the 2~1/2” markings on the ruler. Cut one side and then the other. Trim away the swallow tails on the other corner.
From 5” squares, you will get 4 – 3~1/4” HST
From 4 1/2”………..4 - 2~3/4” HST
From 4………………..4 – 2~1/2” HST
I needed quite a few of these for my blocks so I cut, then sewed, pressed and trimmed 8 squares at one time. It went very quickly and I’m pleased with the results. Sewing time – 10 minutes max. Cutting takes a bit longer but within an hour they were all done.
My friend Susan was flying to Britain to take in some of the Olympics. As she wasn't going to be here, I explained how to do this over the phone because everyone knows, we like free, fast and easy.
New word for me last Friday.................its a "freasy" she said to me. I agree. I like that word. Once it was all explained she told me it was one of those techniques that just make you want to take the palm of your hand to your forehead.................I said its like being gobsmacked. I am picking up this Aussie slang.