HST and QST (Half Square Triangles and Quarter Square Triangles)

Christy Needlecrafts, Sewing 10 Comments

These pictures have been on my camera for almost a month. And believe it or not, I actually have this front fully assembled already (it’s just a table runner, so it’s not huge). But I originally planned to do a post on just assembling the squares, so here it is.

I’ve been wanting to learn how to do half square triangles for about as long as I’ve wanted to learn how to quilt. I am pretty obsessed with the chevron pattern right now (I know it’s trendy but I don’t care), and I’ve also loved pretty much every HST quilt I’ve ever seen.

quarter square triangles | www.inklingsandyarns.com

 

So, when the monthly class project at Eddie’s was a table runner made with half- and quarter-square triangles, I was super excited. They’re actually quite easy, especially when you have a template that takes pretty much all of the work out of measuring. This particular pattern uses mostly QSTs, but the concept is essentially the same.

I was able to get all of my squares pieced during the 3 hour class. BUT THEN, I decided I wanted my runner to be a little longer, so I had to make 6 more squares at home. These are they.

quarter square triangles | www.inklingsandyarns.com

I did learn this nifty trick that’s probably obvious to the veteran quilters out there, but to me it was magic. If you run all your pieces through your machine right after each other without cutting the thread it saves so much time, and it prevents the skinny corners from getting stuck in the feed dogs! And you end up with these cute banner-looking things as you go. Just pin your triangles together and keep them in a stack in front of you, then sew away.

half of a quarter square triangle square | www.inklingsandyarns.com

Then press open, pin and sew your squares.

quarter square triangles | www.inklingsandyarns.com

Like I said, I’ve already pieced the front, so now I “just” need to quilt and bind. Ha! That’s the most time-consuming part. I think I’m going to use this project as my first real attempt at free motion quilting. (Translation: I’ll let my anxiety about messing it up prevent me from actually quilting this for the next 6 months or so.)

But never fear, I’ve already got my next project in the works, AND it has a due date. I’m organizing a bit of a craft-along with some friends, and the goal is to complete a project that we’d normally never get around to in the next 6 weeks. Let’s see how that goes, shall we? I may have to hold off on showing pictures until the 6 weeks are up, since the project is a gift, and I want it to be a bit of a surprise. But I’ll try to at least give status updates from time to time.