Monday, October 19, 2009

Strip Pieced Half Square Triangles and Flat Pinwheels

I'm in the process of making an aqua and red pinwheel baby quilt. I love pinwheels. The easiest way (for me) to make half square triangles is to strip piece them. Here's how I do it.

I cut my strips of fabric the finished size I want my HST ( half square triangles) to be plus 7/8 of an inch. (Example a 4 inch (finished) HST  Cut strip 4 7/8 in.)Cut that measurement by the WOF (width of fabric). Then you get this nice pile of strips.


Next mark off the measurement you are using for your HST in intervals on the back of your light strips. Then mark alternating diagonal lines between the straight lines.


Now line your light strip and alternating fabric strip right sides together and press them to hold them together.


Sew 1/4 of an inch away from the diagonal lines on one side of the strip.


When you come to the end of the strip turn it and sew along the diagonal lines on the other side.


Press to set your seems.


Now cut on the drawn lines (straight and diagonal).


Press to the darker fabric and square up as desired.




FLAT PINWHEELS
Now that you have your half square triangles you can make lots of things. I am making pinwheels. This is how I get a flat pinwheel. Pinwheels have a lot of bulk where all the seams intersect. So pressing is the important thing here.

First layout your HST's to make a pinwheel. Sew the top 2 together and then the bottom 2, butting seams.


PRESS THE SEAMS OPEN.


Now put your top unit and bottom unit together, matching all seams. Pin if you like.


Press your seams OPEN.


Square up. Now you should have a lovely flat pinwheel.



9 comments:

beth said...

great tutorial! It reminds me of those rolls of papers you can buy(triangles on a roll?)...without the paper!

Marlene said...

I love HST as well but have never tried this method of sewing them. Thanks for the tut and will give it a try.
Can't wait to see the finished quilt.

Mountain Home Quilts said...

I may have to try this method sometime because pinwheels and I do not get along....AT ALL. After about 4 quilts attempting them I've decided they're for someone else! :)

Cathie said...

Nice tutorial with good photos! Very easy to follow. Thanks! Cute quilt, too.

Valerie said...

A question for clarification -- when you mark the perpendicular lines down the length of your fabric, is the distance between the finished HST measurement or the HST + 7/8 that you used to cut the fabric strips? Much thanks for the tutorial -- I am always on the hunt for quicker ways to put blocks together!

Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts said...

this is great! it's nice not to handle all of those squares and triangles. And they are flat!

Florence said...

wow,,,,,,,,,,,,,and thats it,,,,,i never thought of doing the hsts like this,,,ty ty ty ty,,,,,,,,us beginners sure do love these little tips,,,

Alia said...

Thank you! I am embarking on a pinwheel quilt soon and was not looking forward to cutting all those squares first... this strip piecing will be fantastic

meredith said...

This is great, thank you! Going to try it today! Question - are your marking lines (the vertical ones), are they at 5 & 3/8 or are they at 4.5?
Thanks!

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