Mastering Half Square Triangles: Making Eight at a Time!

Welcome back, quilting enthusiast! Today, I am taking us on another exciting journey into the basics of quilting. This time, we're diving into the wonderful world of half square triangles (HSTs) and learning a fantastic technique to make eight of them at once! So, grab your fabric and sewing machines, and let's start on this quilting adventure together. If you're catching me now and haven't seen the other tutorials in this series, go check them out on my blog!

First things first, to make eight half square triangles at a time, you'll need two pieces of fabric. I prefer working with three and a half-inch squared HSTs, so I start with an eight and a quarter-inch square of fabric to allow for room to square up the triangles later.

Now, with the light fabric facing up, draw an X from corner to corner, ensuring precision by slightly offsetting the ruler to hit right on the points. It's essential to mark the wrong side of the fabric if it's directional printed to maintain consistency in your design.

Next comes the fun part – sewing! You’ll want to sew a quarter inch away from all marked lines, making sure not to sew directly on the lines. With a quarter-inch foot on your sewing machine, you can effortlessly stitch along the edges, letting the feed dogs do the work.

After sewing along all four sides, it’s time to trim the block into eight HSTs. It’s super important to be precise while trimming, ensuring each cut is made vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, resulting in perfect triangles.

Once trimmed, it's time to press those seams. It’s really helpful if you set the seams with an iron to flatten any wrinkles caused by stitching. Then, she trims the triangles once more, ensuring they measure three and a half inches on all sides.

With all eight HSTs neatly trimmed and pressed, I would encourage you to experiment with different patterns and layouts. Whether you're pressing the seams towards the dark side or opening them up, I recommend following your pattern's instructions for the best results.

As we conclude today's post, make sure to come back and join me for next week's tutorial – making sixteen half square triangles at a time! It's sure to be another exciting adventure in quilting basics.