World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of May 20, 2002:
Our question this week comes J. Redden
How many methods are there for making half square triangles ? What type of rulers would you suggest?
Lane :
As a beginning quilter, in my first Saturday club at the local quilting store, they taught us to draw a line diagonally on one square, then put the two squares together and sew 1/4 inch on each side of the drawn line, cut on the line and walah- two perfect half square triangles with the hair on your head still intact!
Kathy :
Too many. Forget the rules - Thangles are my favorites.
Dawn Mcphillipd :
I use 3 different one's I-a6/12 and a 6inch squre
Annette in Utah :
My favorite way to make lots of hst's is to mark a straight line on a couple pieces of tape, put them on my sewing machine aligned with the needle (in front of and behind the needle). Put 2 squares together (with right sides facing) and line up the diagonal corners with the line on the tape. No marking the fabric, just sew from one corner to the other, with the line on the sewing machine to help you keep them straight. When you're done, you can turn them around and make smaller ones of the part you would cut off, by moving your line 1/2" to the side of your needle. Then sew then again like before, aligning the corners with the line taped onto your machine. When they're all done, cut between the 2 stitching lines, and you have all the hst's you need for your project plus a bunch more for a quick gift when you need one. That way you're not wasting anything.
Chris :
There may be as many ways of making HSTs as ther are quilters, but I think one could catagorized them into two groups: 1. Marked squares and 2. Paper pieced squares.
Marked squares can be made with either a ruler (I recommend a 6" x 12" with a 45 degree line on it). I often cut strips the correct width, (salvage to salvage) then mark the square size and diagonal on the wrong side of the lighter fabric. I also have stencils from EZ that can mark a grid and diagonals.
The second: paper pieced, you buy pre-printed rolls of light paper from you LQS. I like to use these when I have a lot to do in a variety of fabrics. Just cut ou your fabric in squares and lay the paper on top and sew.
I hope this helps,
Chris
Pat :
I belong to the SCA, a medeival recreation group and I have to commend you for all those costumes!!! To think I have trouble just keeping myself in surcoats and chemises!!! Kathy is right, you have definately won The Mom of The Year Award!! On to the question - There are probably as many ways of making half square triangles as there are people who make them! There is the tried and true cut two squares in half and sew together two of the triangles method. Another method is to take two squares, mark a line diagonally from one corner to the next on the back of the lighter square, place the two squares right sides together and sew a quarter of an inch on either side of the drawn line and then cut them apart on the drawn line. You can also mark the sewing line if you don't have a reliable quarter inch foot. This method is good if you only need a few half square triangles, or if you need lots of different colours. If you need lots of the same colour then try the grid method. This method is wonderfully detailed in the book Quilts Quilts Quilts, it might also be on this website somewhere. I couldn't even begin to describe all the steps here. You can also sew two strips together and trim the strips into squares with the seam on the bias and get half square triangles that way. In order to avoid any tricky math I always make my half square triangles bigger that I need, then I trim them to size. No pesky 7/8" problems! I have used all of the above methods with my regular collection of rulers. I wouldn't buy a ruler just for half square triangles untill you have tried using the ones you already have. Hope this helps!
Kathy Bridges :
Everyone check out the "Why I missed several Questions of the Week postings". The costumes are just delightful and you are a wonderful Mom for getting that involved. Your son will remember all his life what you contributed!
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