"Wanna Know" Wednesday - Half Square Triangles

One of the most basic blocks for quilting is the half square triangle (HST).  I'm sure if you look around on the internet, you will be able to find many different ways on how to do this.  Some involve specialty rulers.  Some involve purchasing or printing out sheets of paper with the half square triangle lines drawn on them.  Others involve nothing but your usual quilting tools (i.e. ruler, rotary cutter, cutting mat).

The most traditional way is to add 7/8" to the finished size of the square you want.  For example, if you want your square to finish at 2" in your quilt, you would cut your squares to 2-7/8".  I've always found that unless you get an absolutely perfect seam and perfect pressing...these squares will end up a little small.  We all know how difficult it is to add material to a square....it's impossible!

The method that I've found that works really well is to actually cut your initial squares another 1/8" larger than the traditional way.  In this method, you would add 1" to the finished size of the square you want.  For example, if you want your square to finish at 2" in your quilt, you would cut your squares to 3".  Granted, this method does involve trimming the block down after you press it; however, it does mean that your square will be square.  It makes it SO much easier to assemble your quilt top if your individual parts are square.

Here are the steps for creating these half square triangles:

1. Cut your light and dark squares 1" larger than your finished size of the square.
2. Draw a diagonal line from one corner of the square to the other of the light material.
3. Layer 2 squares (one light and one dark) with right sides together and sew a scant 1/4" away from the diagonal line that you drew.
4. Press the entire square before cutting it apart in order to set the stitches.
5. Cut your squares apart on the diagonal line that you drew (this cut will be between the two stitched lines).
6. Press seams towards the dark material.
7. Trim the excess material off the block to make sure that it is perfectly square.

I will add some photos to this post later to show the different steps, but for now, you'll have to make do with just text.

Below is a table of example sizes of finished squares and what size square you need to cut to achieve that final size.

Finished Size of Square	Cut Size of Squares
1.5”	2.5”
2.0”	3.0”
2.5”	3.5”
3.0”	4.0”
3.5”	4.5”
4.0”	5.0”
4.5”	5.5”
5.0”	6.0”

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations