Half and Quarter Square Triangles

A little mass production for the last couple of days making lots of half square triangles, some quarter square triangles, some curved landscape pieces and other oddments.  I have set myself the goal of getting the scrap House Quilt made next and with luck in time for the exhibition.
 
Cut some light and some dark squares (mine were 4") and lay them right sides together (RST).

Using a Quilter's Quarter (shown here) draw a diagonal line across from corner to corner, mark and stitch 1/4" each side of the line and cut the squares in half, open up and press well. Trim off the 'ears'.
 I churned out a lot of half square triangles but discovered that although useful on their own it could get a bit boring.

But there are lots of ways they can be used.  I put some of them RST and drew a diagonal line across then sewed on either side of this line then cut them across to create two smaller shapes.


As the shapes come together there are lots of seams to manage and when the seams are on both sides it is best to pin inwards from the raw edges perpendicular to the edge of the fabric as shown here.  You can leave the pin in place right up until the machine needle is holding down the seam in the right way and then remove the pin. (See the image below).

The half square triangles can  be stitched into the pinwheel shape as shown here as well as saw tooth strips and many other types of block.

As I added pieces on I made up other shapes and I fussy cut some animal pictures out of a farmyard fabric.  I also made landscape blocks using the curved cutting technique.  It became very addictive.

The message is this:  don't be put off because it seems complicated and daunting.  I think you will find, if you do decide to give it a try, that you get drawn into the fun of it and your own design and methods will emerge. Once started it begins to take shape under its own steam.

I decided to make mine up in three blocks so that getting the bulk under the arm of the sewing machine for quilting would be easier, the blocks to be joined together before putting on the border and edging.  So far I have the top of two blocks completed and the third is work in progress.  I am aiming for a size about 60" X  40" with the blocks roughly about 20" X 40" each.

I had already made nine houses and had added surroundings such as gardens and trees.  I laid these out on a bed to decide placement of each house and spread them roughly to the size I was aiming for.  This basic outline then leads the way into the size, shape and colouring for the blocks and the pieces needed in between.

There is a lot of work in the Scrap House Quilt but it is one of those projects that once started you want to get back to it as often as you can - and as it starts to grow the results are very rewarding.

For those who want to have a go at making this type of quilt the techniques can be covered in our group sessions if you like - just ask me to demonstrate and back that with a worksheet.

To be continued ...