Good morning!...are you ready for
another tutorial?
In my tute yesterday I said I would show you how I know what size to rotary cut the half square triangles in the blocks instead of using templates.
First of all...you need to know that I cut squares...not triangles.
come back here...
I'll wait:)
Okay...now that you know why I cut squares...lets get down to business!
All of the squares in the block finish
at 2" x 2".
That means that I cut all of them
2 1/2" x 2 1/2"
to allow for seam allowance..
And when I say all of them...I mean that I also cut a 2 1/2" square for
each triangle too...
Like this.
Then I stitch them from corner to corner...
At the same time...by clothesline stitching.
I cut them apart and give them a
quick press to set the stitches...
Then I trim off the excess and leave an approximate 1/4" seam allowance.
Like this:)
No stretching out of shape because of
cutting triangles out on the bias...
I sewed it across the bias BEFORE cutting.
I heart this method:)
I know what you're thinking...
"That's some wasted fabric, Miss Lori"!
But remember I have cut my squares
from a 2 1/2" strip.
If I had cut squares and cut them in
half for triangles...
or used templates...
I would also have wasted a little fabric too.
Being able to cut a strip across the
width of your fabric,
saves fabric in the end...
by not having to chop into your
precious fabric piece with
all kinds of odd ball measurements.
Although...
sometimes I do save my cut off triangles.
I save them if I can cut at least
a 1 1/2" square or larger out of them...
and then I do.
If they are smaller than that...
I throw them out:)
I save my squares that I have cut from the leftovers for small projects.
You would be suprised how much I use them!
As you can see from the above photo...the leftover triangles from this block are
too small for me to save:(
Anyhoo...
when I press my half square triangle open...
it measures exactly
2 1/2" x 2 1/2" square...
because that is what size I cut
both of the squares that I stitched
from point to point.
I just simply made 1 half square triangle
out of 2 squares.
Easy peasy math...easy peasy cutting...
easy peasy sewing:)
I lay the HST back out on my
mini design board after pressing...
And make sure that all four HST are facing
the right way..because I will sew them however they are laid out...haha
Now that it's turned into a simple 9 patch...it's a cinch to
sew it together!
And that's how I do it!...
Yellow = Annies Farm Stand
Blue = Caramel Town
Red = Sew Cherry
Now that you know how to figure out what size to cut your squares when making HST...you can draft alot more blocks for rotary cutting!
Next post I will show you
how to draft/rotary cut/sew
a block that has flying geese.
Have a quilty weekend my friends:)
xx
Lori
21 comments:
Perfect!
Do you always add a 1/2" no matter the size of the half square triangle?
I'm no longer afraid to start my blocks, and can hardly wait to get started on TFW! Thank you!
Ditto to Nedra ♥ Cutting squares is my favorite way to make half square triangles too. I am a visual person, so your tutorial really helped me a lot. Thanks! I am so excited I may not be able to sleep with visions of rotary cut squares dancing in my head :)
Thanks so much for your great tutorials! I've made my cute design boards, now onto making some FW blocks! You're a genius :)
This is fantastic! I have ALOT of homework to do this weekend... Thank you! :-)
What a kind thing to do for us! Really appreciate you doing the math and the tutorials....thank you!
Oh, this is making the "difficulties" of the FWQAL sound much more do-able to me :) Thank you oh so much!! And I am using my design boards everyday ;0.
PS- You have the cutest fabrics!! I so need to be your shadow when you are shopping! hehe! Love all your blocks!
Wonderful tutorial! To see the photos of how you do it along with the explanation sure does help me! And I just LOVE your music selections! I usually turn off sound but this is fabulous! Brings back lots of nice memories, this old music. Thanks so much!
I am loving these tut's Perfect for the nervous quilter like me...smiles...Renee
very helpful. Thank you. I have been kicking myself on several of these blocks because I do not like templates at all! I have been paper piecing some of the blocks, too.
Great tut..loved the pictures as I'm a very visual person...I'm so far behind lots of homework this week end for me...I also need to go shopping with you....
You do the greatest tutorials. Step by step you can sew along. Makes me want to start sewing on my quilt.
Lori,
I love all you do! You are one talented lady! Thanks for sharing it is interesting to see how you do things.
hi lori!
you are so organized with your quilting! thanks for sharing your tips for drafting a pattern....you make it look so simple. i think for sure i'll get some graph paper and try a few.
your calico puzzle is really cute....i sewed one of my corners wrong on mine so i have to go fix it!
have a great day! :)
You are a peach... ;o)
I think your blog is one of the best ones I've seen! Love your tutorials and Thank You for so generously sharing all of this terrific information!!
lori, your tutorials are the best!! thanks for sharing your methods on how to simply the quilting. :)
I just LOVE your blocks. I am always trying to pick a block for my memory quilt, but you show so many great ones that I can't choose!
I have been so hesitate to start. You just made it so doable! Thank you bunches. Do you pp some of your blocks? Cindy
Wow! That is so helpful! I shall certainly be back to visit. Thank you.
What I have been doing lately is after I sew from corner to corner I will go back and sew 1/2 inch from the first sew line. Then cut them apart. Now I have the HST that I wanted and a smaller set for use in something else. Thank you for the tut it was great!
You are making me want to do this! I'm telling you it is so incredibly tempting I can't stand it!!
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