Making Half Square Triangles - An Updated Tutorial

It seems like I have been spending an awful lot of time making HST's lately.  Last week I shared my progress on my third WoW-E! quilt and that I have plans for making a fourth version using an on point setting.  I must be nuts.

WoW-E! in SOLIDS on point - 57" x 71"

It was a year and a half ago that I first shared my Half Square Triangle (HST) tutorial here on the blog.  Lots of things have changed since then... including how I make my HST's.  So I thought these little time saving tips were worthy of adding to the blog and updating my HST tutorial.

Making Half Square Triangles - A Tutorial

For the purpose of this diagram the right side of the fabric is shown in pink, while the wrong side is shown in white.  Please note that the fabric squares should be ‘sandwiched’ with right sides facing together, and line up on all sides as accurately as possible.  The diagram does not show this accuracy for demonstrative purposes only.

First determine your finished size square.  For the purpose of this tutorial, I am using squares with a finished size of 2".  Add 1" to the finished size square to determine how big to cut your pieces.  So, I need to work with 3" squares to make my HST's.

Using your rotary cutter and acrylic ruler, cut your fabric along the width of the fabric to make strips measuring 3" and sub-cut these strips into 3" squares.

Previously, I had been using this method, which is the most accurate.....   Take two squares and ‘sandwich’ them with right sides facing together as shown in Figure A.  Use a pencil and ruler to draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the fabric, from the top corner to the bottom corner as shown in blue in Figure B.  Sew a ¼” seam on the right of the blue line from edge to edge as shown in red in Figure C.

Chain piece your HST's by continuing these steps shown in Figures A, B and C for about 10 other pairs of squares, sewing the seams, and without cutting the thread.  At the end of the last seam, turn your chain of sandwiches around and sew back along the opposite side of the guide line, 1/4" from that center line, on each sandwich square as shown in Figure D. 


But during the making of my latest batch of hst's, I used a piece of masking tape to mark a center line that is 1/4" offset from center.  Then I don't have to mark all those squares.  The corner of your block is lined up with the masking tape and your stitch line is 1/4" off of center.

When I turned my squares around to stitch the second seam, my foot also helped to guide me on the way back.

Here is a chain of squares I had sewn up for my WoW-E! {redo} quilt.

Remove the chain of squares from the machine and bring them to your cutting board.

Use your acrylic ruler to cut the squares along the diagonal between the seam lines.

Take the chain of pieces to the ironing board.  Clip the threads to separate the pieces.

Press the seams open.

Take the pressed units back to the cutting board.  Use your acrylic ruler to trim the first corner by lining up the diagonal dots along the seam line.  Make sure to allow for trimming of the other corner of the HST.  Notice the 2.5" marks along the ruler edge are not at the edge of the left and bottom of the HST unit?

Turn your unit around and trim the other corner.  Make sure the seam is aligned with the diagonal dots on your acrylic ruler and that the sides of your unit line up with the 2.5" marks.


Voila!  Perfect 2.5” Half Square Triangle Blocks!

These 2.5" HST's will finish at 2" when used in the patchwork blocks.


This updated post has been added to the Tutorial page.



How about you?  We all use those pesky versatile hst's in so many projects.
Do you have any tips to share?
 

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