Last week, Jen’s showed us a block made of Half Squares Triangles (HSTs). Now, there’s nothing in quilting I like more than HSTs. I just love making them, and I love the never ending possibilities that they offer.
I’d say, expect quite a few tutorials for HSTs blocks from me. Ahem.
Today, we are making this block:
I love this block so much!
With HSTs, it is really important to check that you’re seam allowance really is a scant 1/4 inch. Honestly there, it is almost better if you are a bit under.
But for this week block, I started with a base square about half an inch bigger than necessary. If your seam allowances are perfect, you should be ok with a base square of about 4″ (if you have some scraps you want to use, for example).
I preferred to be on the safe side, so I cut my base squares to 4.5″. I ended up with HSTs blocks which were about 4″ squares, and I trimmed them down to 3.5″.
Now, you just don’t go and trim an HST block just like that. If you look at your quilting ruler, you’ll notice that it’s got a 45 degrees line (as well as a 60 one, but this one we don’t need for this blocks). To perfectly trim an HST block, you will need to line up this 45 degree lineon the diagonal of your HST block (along the long side of the triangle) and the 3.5″ line with the sides of your block. And repeat for all sides of your HST block. It is much easier than it sounds, trust me!
The rest of the instructions are in this handy pdf file: Bouquet
I’m looking forward to seeing what you will make with this block! Do share your blocks with us on Flickr or here, with this handy linky thingy!
