Welcome to SewVeryEasy, my name is Laura. And today, let's make a quilt that consists of half-square triangles. The entire thing is half-square triangles, but let's make them quick and easy, and let's make them big at 7". Now you can use yardage or you can use fat quarters. This is going to go together really quick and easy. The pattern I'm going to use today is from Quilting Treasures. It's a free pattern; I'll put a link in the description. There's two variations. You have a Christmas variation, and then this brown and beige variation. Well, I'm going to turn it into a floral variation. Now this fabric is also from Quilting Treasures. It's a Studio Leaf fabric and it's called Sophia. And they have beautiful florals and some nice light colors. I'm going to need 14 fabrics, 7 light and 7 dark, because you're going to need 7 sets. So I've taken all of my fabrics and I've matched them in sets. And I'm using fat quarters. The pattern directions tell you to take and cut 4⅞" squares out of your fat quarters, then from there you're going to cut them in half and sew them together. I'm going to show you a different way that's going to speed that up. So instead of using a 7⅜" measurement I'm going to round it up to 8". Matter of fact, I'm going to round it up even more and I'm going to sew all of my triangles together at the same time. So to start with I'm going to take the two fat quarters that I've chosen to match together and line them up. And I'm going to line them up so that the right sides are facing each other. And take them to the iron and press them together so that there's no wrinkles on either side. Bring them to the cutting table and leave them together with right sides facing. To speed the cutting and the sewing up I'm going to keep my squares together. So I'm going to have my four squares cut together. And to speed it up even more, I'm going to use the rulers that I have. I have a nice big 16½" ruler. I'm going to use that ruler and I'm also going to use a long ruler. By using these two rulers, it's going to speed it up even more. I'm going to take that big 16½" square and I'm just going to put it into the corner of my two fat quarters that are still together, right sides facing. I know that I have lots of room that I can trim off and I'm going to leave that ruler there and the first thing I'm going to do is cut the bottom edge. Leave the 16½" there and put up that big ruler right up against that ruler so those edges are touching. Now I'm going to be able to move this big ruler just slightly and cut down that line and cut my first light. Without moving your hand and without moving that [long] ruler, take this ruler and move it back so that it's touching that ruler. Make sure that you have enough to trim off, now you can remove this ruler and the scrap fabric. The next I'm going to cut the one side, then I'm going to cut along the top. And this is not a usual way of cutting but it will save you time for this application. Now in order to cut this edge, I need to be cutting with the other hand and it's not that easy, so I'm going to use the ruler again. I'm going to hold the 16½" down and put that ruler again right up along that edge so it's nice and tight. Pull the larger ruler down and then move the big ruler. You don't need to move it too far, and cut. I now have all four of my edges cut and it's a nice 16½". And before I move this fabric I'm going to mark it. I'm going to draw a line from the corner to corner and corner to corner. That line is a cutting line. So you can use whatever you would like in order for you to see it. So I've done the one line. I'm going to turn the ruler and do the second line. Before I move it I'm going to pin it. I like to put one pin in the center, put a pin on each of the corners, and then two pins on the center line. And I'm going right through the center of the line. So now this has been pressed together, cut together, pinned together, and the lines have been drawn together. And you will need seven of these sets. And I like to have all seven sets done right at the beginning so I can take to the machine and just stitch them all at the same time. The first row of stitching I'm going to take and I am going to use the edge of my foot and sew over a quarter inch and sew all the way down one of those angles. And as you sew you're going to be able to remove those pins. So once the first row of stitching has been done, I'm going to do the next row of stitching and remove those pins. So two of the stitching lines are done. Now I want to stitch a quarter inch on the other side of the two lines. So I only have four rows of stitching: Two on each side of the one line; two on the other side of the other line. Take it to the iron and press it. The four rows of are all we're going to need. Now we need to cut it apart. So the first two lines we're going to cut are going to be the lines that we drew. And just cut down those lines. So I'm going to do them both. The next line is going to go in the center. I'm going to be able to use the edge of my ruler and that center mark as a guide. So I'm going to cut on that angle and then turn it. Using that center point and a straight edge, cut down the center. So from that big 16½" square I was able to get eight half-square triangles,. So when these are opened up they give me the triangles. Each one of them will open up and give me half-square triangles. Do this stitching and cutting technique for each of your seven sets, and you will end up with eight half-square triangles of each set with a total of 56 units. And to trim it down you're going to be able to use a square ruler that has a diagonal on it. You're going to use that diagonal as a guide along the diagonal of that seam. And trim off the first two edges. Then you're going to be able to take that square, rotate it, use that diagonal and whatever measurement you want, and in my case I'm going to do it at 7½". So I have my 7½" mark, my angle is correct, now I can trim off the extra and I know this is going to be a 7½" square. So if you want it 7", at this point you're just going to move it down to 7". So depending on the size, you're going to be able to just move it down and use this measurement, and that's what your square is going to be. So now I have a perfect 7½" half-square triangle. As long as all 56 half-square triangles are the same size it's going to work out fine. It's just going to change the overall size of the quilt. In the pattern they have seven stacks. Repeat the same thing with your own colors and label each stack. So I have each of the stacks labeled A, B, C, ... so that I'm going to be able to use this diagram as a guide. They've already done the work for you. You just need to label your piles. The diagram to put the quilt together will tell you what blocks to put together, so you can either put them together in rows, or do them in blocks and put the entire quilt together following this design. So I've divided the quilt into four and I want to build each four sections and then put the four sections together. They're not going to be equal pieces because the quilt is 7 by 8. So I've just taken and have divided it up to what is going to be workable for me. Now I can construct each one of those sides following the numbers with my stacks. The next would be adding that 2" border. With that burgundy border on, it makes the burgundies and the reds pop, come forward, you notice them more in the quilt. So no matter what color you put on the border, it's going to make that color come forward. So if you put the green on, you're going to notice the green more. If you put the lighter beiges and cream colors, it's going to blend that quilt all together. Doesn't matter what border you put on it, you can't go wrong with this quilt. There's so many different color combinations in so many different fabrics you could do to get this look. It has been fun, it's been quick, all half-square triangles, all the same size blocks, which makes it so easy to put together. I do hope you give this a try. I'll put a link in the description to the pattern and to the fabric. Thank you for joining me today on SewVeryEasy. Feel free to subscribe and, as always, come on back. Let's see what we're sewing next time
in the sewing room. Bye for now!
