In a July 20, 2011 post, I showed you a quilt I made which included MANY half square triangles, or HST's. I made the quilt top in a class taught by Roxann O'Hare of The Cosmic Cow. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cosmic-Cow/149605151761698
In that class, I gained confidence using the oversized square method for constructing half-square triangles (HST's), pictured above in a mini-tutorial. Here are the steps:
Join two oversized squares (I used a 7" square to create a finished 6" block for a charity quilt project).
Draw a line, corner to corner.
Stitch ¼" from the line on each side of the line. (Sewn line – drawn line – sewn line.)
Cut on the DRAWN line, leaving two triangles.
Press the seam to the dark side of each HST.
Trim to your desired size. If you have a ruler with a 45 degree angle line, that's super helpful. You can align that line with the center line of your block before cutting.
Voila! Perfectly-sized HST's.
Yes, it uses a bit more fabric, but the increased accuracy and decreased frustration are worth a few extra pennies, I think. With perfectly-sized HST's and a ¼" foot on my sewing machine, I'll be happier with my finished blocks, and my trusty seam ripper can spend more time in the sewing box!
TTFN
LeAnn aka pasqueflower
Thanks for sharing. I'll have to try it. I've been practicing on quilting recently.
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