Ahhhhhhhh……..Sewing what I want to sew……….the “Magic 60”

I have one of my Island Batik Spring/Summer projects done, another up to the quilting stage, and FINALLY I am starting on a twin size quilt. I’ve been freakin’ out over this…I need to have it done before the end of the month, and I just wasn’t able to get to it — until today.

I’m sure you’ve heard about the “Magic 8” method of making HSTs (half-square triangles).  It seems to be everywhere, this magical new way of making HSTs!!

But…what do you do if you only need 4 or 6?? What if you need 18? 26? 10??? What about 60??

I started seriously quilting when a PBS tower was put up somewhat close to my home, and I discovered Eleanor Burns and Quilt in a Day. I learned so much from her–how to easily make quilts– such as her method of making HSTs–any number of half square triangles.

You cut a (most of the time) rectangle of fabric. For example, what I’m working on today.  I need 60 HSTs.  Do I piddle around with squares making 8 at a time?  No, I do not.

1 square of 2 different fabrics = 2 HSTs. 60 HSTs means I need 30 squares of each fabric. So, I cut a WOF (width of fabric) of each fabric. Since I happen to need 4″ finished HSTs, my squares need to be 5″. Yes, that’s bigger than the normal size for a 4″ finished, but this allows me to trim up to the exact size I need. If my seam allowance is a bit off, I’m ok, I’ll have the perfect size when trimmed.

I design using a 40″ WOF, some fabrics are 42″, 44″, and some even 45″ wide, but working with a 40″ width, I know there will be enough fabric.

So… 40″ divided by 5″ = 8, I can make my grid 8.  I need 60 HSTs, 30 squares of each fabric. 30 divided by 8 means I need 3 full widths of fabric (that’s 24 squares), plus 6 more squares on the 4th WOF.

On the backside of one of the fabrics, usually the lightest one. I draw a grid of squares. In this instance, it’s a grid of 8×4. But I don’t need all of them, so I don’t draw the last 2, indicated by the *. As it turns out, this fabric is 45″ of usable fabric, so I was able to draw 9 squares across the width, and the grid actually looked different than above, and I ended up with 2 larger rectangles left over, which I can use in the next step.

After drawing the grid, I draw the diagonal sewing lines indicated by the red dash lines. I can start sewing at an edge, sew to the other edge, turn and keep going until I’ve sewed on both sides of the diagonal lines.  Then I cut on all drawn lines–the grid lines and the diagonal lines.

To square up the HSTs I use the Quilt in a Day Triangle Square Up ruler. With this ruler, you square up before pressing the HST open–only 2 edges to trim. Because it’s still folded, you are actually trimming all 4 sides in 2 cuts. Trim off the dog ears, and press open.  Done!!

Now I’m going back to my HSTs.  I’ve got the sewing done, now it’s cutting them apart and trimming. Ugh. I love HSTs in a quilt, but not making them!