Directions for Cutting Half Square Triangles Using the Half Square Triangle Ruler

This method of cutting Half Square Triangles will save you time and fabric.

1. Determine the unfinished size of the unit needed. Example: If the finished size of the Half Square Triangle is 4", add 1/2" to get the unfinished size. (The extra 1/2" is for the seam allowance.) Cut a strip of fabric the unfinished width. Example: If the unfinished size is 4 1/2", cut a 4 1/2" strip of fabric.

2. Use the Half Square Trianlge Ruler to cut Half Square Triangles. Find the 4 1/2" measurement on the ruler and place at the edge of the strip, as shown. Cut along the diangonal edge of the ruler. If you are cutting several HST units, stack several strips and cut several at a time. You can stack up to 4 strips to cut.

3. The unit will look like this:

4. Flip the ruler over and cut another Half Square Triangle. Line up the angled edge of the ruler with the angled edge of the fabric (as shown above). The top edge of the fabric should be at the 4 1/2" line and the tip of the ruler should extend beyond the bottom edge of the fabric.

5. Turn ruler around, line up on HST and cut off tip. Stack several HST and cut several at one time.

6. When sewing these units together, line up the pieces and sew ont he diagonal edge. Press to the darker fabric. The "dog ears" are already cut off, so you will save time not having to do this after sewing.

7. If you are cutting squares the same size ase the HSTs, cut them from the same strip of fabric.

2011 Current River Scrappers Quilt Guild BOM

We are starting a new Block of the Month at the Current River Scrappers Quilt Guild for 2011. Join me each month to get the pattern and directions for each block. Directions posted here will use a Half Square Triangle ruler and a Quarter Square Triangle ruler. You can use any brand you want. They all work the same. Most, if not all, the blocks are cut from 2 1/2" and 4 1/2" strips. I purchased a Fat Quarter bundle and some yardage for the background for my quilt. You may use scraps, Fat Quarters, or purchase yardage. In the FQ bundle I purchased, there were 4 colors of fabrics: Blue, Red, Brown, and Beige (which I used for the background).

I will also be posting a Setting Block for the quilt later this month. There are 13 Setting Blocks for the quilt. With a 6" border, the finished quilt will measure 96" x 96". Please post pictures of your progress and your finished quilt. I would love to see what you did.

January's BOM is called Water Wheel. Instructions are for cutting Fat Quarters.

Block #1 Water Wheel

Fabric B (Background) - Cut 1 - 4 1/2" strip: Cut 4 - 4 1/2" Half Square Triangles (HST)*

Cut 1 - 2 1/2" strip: Cut 8 - 2 1/2" squares

Fabric A - (Fabric A is the main color of my quilt) - Cut 1 - 4 1/2" strip: Cut 1 - 4 1/2" square and cut 4 - 4 1/2" Half Square Triangle (HST)*

Fabric C - Cut 1 - 2 1/2" strip: Cut 8 - 2 1/2" squares

Sew Fabric A - 4 1/2" HST to a Fabric B - 4 1/2" HST to make a 4 1/2" HST Square. Make 4.

Sew 2 Fabric B - 2 1/2" squares to 2 Fabric C - 2 1/2" squares to make a 4 Patch unit. Make 4.

Lay out Block as shown below. Sew rows together. Press seams away from HST. When sewing rows together, the seams should lock together for easy sewing.

*[See Directions for Cutting Half Square Triangles Using the Half Square Triangle Ruler]

December is coming to a close

December is almost over and I feel the urge to finish some stuff before the new year starts.

I finish quilting this lap size quilt this afternoon and then put a table runner on and quilted it real quick. I just have to do the binding on them now. I still have to do the binding on Klay and Shauna's quilt, too. I was working on binding on a table runner I made several years ago. I have it and one more that I made before Chris and I got married that I never finished the binding on. (Chris and I got married 4 years ago.)

My goal for 2011 is to finish 2 quilting items before starting a new project. Notice I said "a" new project, not any new projects.

I also worked on my Underground Railroad blocks again today. I have 1 more 6" and 2 more 12" blocks to go. I need fusible interfacing to do those blocks. Need to go shopping for that.

This is the table runner I quilted today. I quilted it with feathers.

2010 Completed Quilts

So far this year, I have completed or quilted 34 Quilt projects this year. I have listed them at the side. I have one more to finish the bindign on. It was for my nephew and his wife for Christmas. I was so close to getting it done. If I had had 2 more days before Christmas to work on it, I would have had it done. But, I will get it done soon.
Today, I spent the day working on the Underground Railroad blocks I started with the local quilt guild at the beginning of the year. I started making the 6" blocks, but everyone else was making the 12" blocks. I then decided to make the 12" also. I think I have 12 of the 6" blocks finished and 8 of the 12" blocks finished.
I planned on putting a quilt on the machine to quilt today. I started putting it on, but didn't get if all the way on. I picked one to do a panto on so it would go quickly and I could get another one done.
I spent so much time working on Baby Quilts this year that I did not get many full sized quilts done. One of the Guilds I belong to had a challenge to make 10,000 inches (meauring the perimeter of the quilt). We were in groups of 4. The group I was in won the challenge. We turned in over 5,000 inches. The Guild made over 250 quilts and past the 10,000 inches a few times. They all go for a good cause.
Tomorrow is another day to quilt. Maybe I will get that quilt done that I started putting on the machine. We'll see...
Happy Quilting!

December Already

Well, it is December already. Another year has come and gone. I can't believe my last post was almost a year ago. Guess I forget about this Blog stuff and do other things. I started on Facebook this year and it takes up a lot of time. It has been good because many of my students from my old school have contacted me and they are still adding to my "Frends" list every week.
This next year I will be doing our local Quilt Guild's Block of the Month (BOM). I think I will try posting it here every month and see how well that goes over.
I still have many, many quilts to quilt. Probably more than I had this time last year. I haven't started many more, but I haven't finished many either. I have a week off of school and plan on quilting most days. Looking forward to it. I will post pictures as I complete projects.

I started taking pictures of all my quilt tops I have ready to quilt. I will start posting them. This first picture is of 4 Saturday Sampler quilts I have pieced. 3 of them are from Quilt Sampler and the red, black and white is from Merrily We Quilt Along. The idea of the Saturday Sampler is that you come in to the Quilt Shop on the designated Saturday, such as the 1st Saturday. You buy a quilt block for $5. They give you the pattern and fabric to make the block. You make the block within the next month, bring your block back the following month and you get a free block that month. If you don't miss any months, you can make 12 blocks for a quilt for $5. If you miss a month, you just go in anytime after that Saturday and buy a block for $5. I have never made it to every month's Saturday. I have always had to buy a block. This does not include the sashing, borders, backing, and binding. Those you have to purchase seperately.


The Butterfly Quilt on the far left is from a block swap I did several years ago over the internet. The yellow 9-patch is a lap size quilt I made to teach a kid's quilting class. The blue one is the first blocks I got from 1st Saturday Sampler. I just started going to Quilt Sampler and didn't know about 1st Saturday Sampler. They had some extra blocks and I could only get 5 blocks that year. The next year was when I started going regularly. The green one is made from a Charm Pack and I made this one for a program at my local quilt guild.

This picture is of a Log Cabin I did from strips of fabric the ladies at church gave me. I need to add borders and get it back to them for them to quilt.

The second one is a 1st Saturday Sampler Christmas quilt. I decided I needed to add an outside border once I looked at it again.

The third quilt is a quilt I did from Fat Quarters I bought when I did a Shop Hop.

The red and green is Jenny Beyer's Mirage quilt. It is Mom's quilt I made for her one Christmas. It is still not quilted.

Then the blue is Jenny Beyer's Moonglow quilt. It belongs to my son, Joey. Also, still not quilted.

There are three pictures. I will post more later. I have a lot of quilting to do, don't you think? I told my husband I didn't know whether to get busy and get some quilted before piecing any more or keep saving them and see if I could get to 100 by the time I retire in 6 years. I have over 50 now.

January 2010

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted to my Blog! I can't believe it is already 2010! Where did the year go? I guess the older I get, the faster the years go.
I keep track of the quilts I complete each year and a list of my UFO's. My UFO's are out of control! But, anyway, that is the story of a quilter with a full time job. My list of finished quilts reached 17 in the year 2009! I am pleased with that number. Unfortunately, most of those were projects I started during the year. There were about 5 or 6 that had been started before 2009. I guess that is not so bad. My list of quilts that are ready to quilt is at 27. I have about 5 that need borders and then they are ready to quilt. I still have a lot of Blocks in Progress.
So, to start the New Year, I have set my goal this year to 24 quilts during 2010. That is a lot, but I have to set my goal high to knock down on these UFO's. I would like at least half of those to be UFO's and not new projects.
I have been going to a Quilt shop in Springfield for several year for their First Saturday Sampler Quilt. I think I started in 2002. The only ones I have finished are the ones I did 2 of and gave one for Christmas, which isn't very many. I would like to get all of those quilted. I had wanted to get them done last year, but didn't do it. Starting in 2002 and still doing it, I have 10 quilts to quilt. In 2008, I did 2 quilts. The borders are still not on those, but the others, including 2009's, are ready to quilt. I got out all my quilts I had packed downstairs in my quilting room and took pictures of them. Maybe with a visual I will get them done. Some are small quilts and wouldn't take very long to do. I did put an old one on my quilting machine Thursday. It is one from JoAnn's. It was a Christmas Quilt Block of the Month. It was probably 12-13 years ago. Does anyone remember that one? I will try to post pictures soon.
Well, Happy New Year to everyone!