Thursday, March 7, 2013

Making HST's~

Do you have a favorite way to make half square triangles?  Does it make a difference if you only need a few, or you need a lot? 

If I have bunches to make, I love my Triangulations program. It is easy, fast, and no trimming up when the sewing is finished. ;-)  But if I only have a few to make, I usually draw a line and sew on either side. Today I needed to make some using charm squares.  When I cut my white to coordinate with them, I discovered my charms weren't very uniform. So I decided to sew around the outside of them and cut on the diagonals. Granted~ you do end up with bias around all the edges, but if you've pressed and used a little starch they are manageable.



I'm  working on a little something I can't show you for a few more weeks. I saved part of the trimming until I had the HST's sewn into blocks, handling the HST's a little as possible. It is working out very well.  I have no idea who first thought of this method~ I've known about it for years, but just didn't really like it so much. Having charm squares changed that. ;-)

Hope you are having a little fun behind your sewing machine today too!
Until next time~
Happy stitching!

5 comments:

Wendy said...

I have been using this method since the 80's taught to me by a friend. I really like this method if you have a lot of them to do. Just keep the starch handy and it goes pretty quick.

Kim said...

I had alot of fun behind my sewing machine today. It's going up live on my post at 9 pm. I had some other things going on to but whatever I am coming down with is hindering the process.
Hugs

Needled Mom said...

That is a great way to make a bunch of them.

Barb said...

I have to confess I don't like doing these but just recently learned the sewing around the edges and it is great.

Ivory Spring said...

Thanks for that encouraging comment on my smocking UFO! :)

My favorite is to cut my squares 1" larger than the finished size, instead of 7/8" - and trim off the excess. It is tedious, but my HST always turn out perfectly square.

Your method sounds intriguing. I have never heard of it before.

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