Thursday 10 July 2014

Half Square Triangle Heaven

I was so excited to be given the opportunity to take part in the Oakshott Colourshott Bundle Blog Hop hosted by Lynn of Lillys Quilts



I drew the Spice Bundle


And immediately thought of sunset and had to start drafting my idea whilst I was still at the day job, so all my calculations have been noted on a scrap of paper! 

Everyone gets a little intimidated by trimming those Half Square Triangles, so what if there was a way to make 8 accurate HSTs in one go, no trimming required?

Well there is! 

These little fat Eighths are exactly 9 3/4" x by 22" 


Perfect!  from each F8th I cut two 9 3/4" squares


sorted them into the colour order I wanted, so they could be paired up, I moved one of the first colour to pair up with the last one


taking the first pair, draw diagonal lines across both axis, 

stitch 1/4" either side of the drawn lines


repeat for all pairs

now its time to trim


Each square will be trimmed in half, lining up the outer edge of your ruler at the 4 7/8" mark,

this is done both on the vertical and horizontal axis
check to ensure you are cutting through the center of the block too


Try not to move your block whilst cutting, if necessary rotate your board to make the cutting easier. 

You will then cut on the drawn diagonal lines


so that when you have done just 4 cuts, you will have 8 HSTs ready for pressing


I prefer to press my seams open, the blocks lay flatter


trim off your bunny ears, and lay out the blocks in order of sewing


my table wasn't big enough!


lay out the blocks in the desired design and stitch into rows, 
Join all the rows together to complete your top


Those 9 3/4" squares produced eight 4" finished HSTs!

so this little quilt is 32" square

layer up, baste, and quilt as desired!
(I love that statement!)


I quilted 1/4" either side of my zig zag seams, but I just couldn't resist a little feather thrown in to reflect the movement in the clouds of my Sunset


and I matched up my threads as I went


So, the technical bits,  we all hate cutting those squares with 7/8" on, and then trying to get an exact seam and hoping the HSTs will work, so what if you could make 8 at a time without the difficult maths? 

Whatever size you need your finished HST to be in my case 4", times by 2 and then add 1 3/4", in this case equals 9 3/4"

I've used this method many times, and now I have my head around the maths, its easy every time!  
Give it a try!  I'd love to see your results. 

Up next on the blog hop is Susan the Gourmet Quilter

31 June:  Jo from My Bearpaw
1 July:     Kerry from Very Kerry Berry
3 July:     Nicky from Mrs Sew And Sow
4 July:     Helen from Archie The Wonder Dog
7  July:    Sonia from Fabric And Flowers
8 July:     Charlotte from Displacement Activity
10 July:   Trudi from Trudi-Quilting Prolifically
11 July:   Susan Claire from Gourmet Quilter

and my sunset tonight? 



24 comments:

Nicky said...

Thanks for the maths tute. I need all the help I can get! Prefer your fabric sunset to the real one,

Sheila said...

Lovely sunset, both of them. I use that multi hat method too, anything for speed and volume.

Sarah said...

Any tips that save hst trimming gratefully received.
Lovely sunset chevrons.

Unknown said...

Love your tutorial, and the quilting, thanks.

Lucy | Charm About You said...

Wow! Beautiful quilt and thanks for the hst tutorial!

Catherine said...

Lovely quilt, and thank you for the tutorial!

QuiltSue said...

Trudi that is just stunning.

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Oh, it's beautiful and your quilting is stunning!!! I love this bundle!

Joanne said...

I love anything that makes making HSt's easier!
What a gorgeous fabric sunset!

Sonia said...

What a fantastic tutorial - especially on the HSTs. I love the blanket, so vibrant!

Charlotte said...

beautiful!

Ella said...

I didn't think I was a yellow fan, but this is stunning!

Carla said...

It's so rich! Reminds me of a sunset....

Chiska said...

Thanks for the tip!

barbara woods said...

love those colors

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Not just a pretty face eh!!!?

Judith, Belfast said...

What gorgeous colours, and stunning quilting as always! Jxo

VickiT said...

Gorgeous colors and such a beautiful and bright quilt.

Di said...

Truly awesome on all levels. Di x

myBearpaw said...

Thank you for that fabulous tutorial Trudi! Love your little sunset mini and love your method even more! And thank so much for the quilt maths tip!

Becky (My Fabric Obsession) said...

So beautiful! Great interpretation of a sunset, it's so vibrant.

Canadian Abroad said...

Beautiful! Your quilting is the icing on the cake.

Katy Cameron said...

It's gorgeous, but, but, HSTs...

Sarah said...

Love the quilt you came up with. Thanks for the tute on how you did it. I'm putting it in favourites.