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Thursday, February 13, 2014

HST Heaven or Hell?

Half Square Triangles (a.k.a. HST's)  seem to be a block that quilters have a love/hate relationship with. There are so many ways to sew them and so many uses in block design. However, they can be somewhat tedious to sew if you need a lot of them. 
I like to use the Easy Angle ruler to make HST blocks, but mostly I prefer to make them as bonus corners when I'm sewing other blocks.
I made a ton of these blocks when sewing Celtic Solstice. 


 For every Chevron block I made, I made 4 HST's. There are 100 Chevrons in the quilt, which means I have 400 HST's measuring 1.5"! Not all of them have been pressed or squared up yet, and I have bags of them waiting for just the right project.
Barbara Brackman recently had a great post on antique quilts using HST blocks - click here to read it. She suggests that to overcome cabin fever, you make 20 HST blocks every day until you see a daffodil, and you will have more than enough to make a quilt! 
If you want to see my all time favorite HST quilt, that I intend to make some day, click here and be inspired! 
Okay, back to pressing and trimming my 400 HST's.

14 comments:

  1. DianeThursday, February 13, 2014

    hst "heaven" I have a little baggie of the leftover ones too...how can you toss em-it's like getting a freebie!!

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  2. Vroomans' QuiltsThursday, February 13, 2014

    I love the bonus' HSTs, but I like to press and square them up right away - store them by size. Then they are ready (and visible) when you need them.

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  3. Teresa in Music CityThursday, February 13, 2014

    I like to keep my little bonus triangles too Kathy :) I haven't used any of them yet, but I know I'm going to be tickled to smithereens when I do! Your "favorite" hst quilt is quite amazing.... I have no doubt you'll make it one day :)

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  4. Carla A Few Of My Favorite ThingsThursday, February 13, 2014

    I am planning a red and white quilt, that has a compass in the middle and was thinking about hsts to fill out the rest, now I am wondering if I should think twice before going there. I think oversized and then squaring them up is a very good idea. I also saw a great tip on how to press them on a craftsy class where you follow the straight of grain as not to distort them. I always forget about that bias so I may play with some scraps and see how successful I can be first.

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  5. Janet O.Thursday, February 13, 2014

    I like the Easy Angle ruler, too--and I save all of my bonus triangles. I have made many a mini (hey, I like that alliteration) from bonus HSTs. I save them in baggies and sew them as leader/ender projects. Then I square them up when I am using them for something specific, because I don't always know what size I will want them to be when I am first sewing them together.
    That is an amazing HST quilt!
    And I had my photo taken in that thing at Ben and Jerry's last Fall. : )

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  6. Kathy ... aka NanaThursday, February 13, 2014

    I used Thangles for my HST quilt. I have never tried using my Easy Angle ruler ... and I am not sure why. I love triangles ... I need to move a quilt with lots of triangles up my list. ;-)

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  7. Cheryl's Teapots2QuiltingThursday, February 13, 2014

    I like Triangulations to make HST's. Really easy and quick.

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  8. Deb@asimplelifequiltsThursday, February 13, 2014

    Heaven... Love them and have made peace with the tedium of trimming knowing that assembly will be so much easier!

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  9. DashaThursday, February 13, 2014

    I don't mind making HSTs, but the ironing and trimming bores me witless, so mostly I don't save the bonus triangles, unless the are large ones.

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  10. margaretFriday, February 14, 2014

    I must use my easy angle, have the companion one too for quarter square triangles but usually forget them. I do like doing half square triangles by putting 2 squares back to back method.

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  11. KateFriday, February 14, 2014

    That's a lot of HSTs to trim up!

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  12. Karen in Breezy PointFriday, February 14, 2014

    I gave my bonus triangles away when I made the chevrons at retreat--I may be sorry if she comes back next year with an awesome quilt!

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  13. beaquilterFriday, February 14, 2014

    have fun with the triangles, I JUSt finished my celtic- reminds me to tell Bonnie

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  14. GinaSaturday, February 15, 2014

    It's not the sewing of the HST's I mind but the trimming down. So mind numbing. Good luck with yours xx

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