Half-Square Triangles Four Ways
Half-Square Triangles Four Ways 2 Half-Square Triangles at Once
For this method, you will pair a light square with a dark square, right sides together. On the wrong side of the light square, draw a diagonal line. Stitch on both sides of the diagonal line, ¼” away from the drawn line. Cut apart on the solid line. This method will yield 2 half-square triangles. How to calculate what size of squares to use: Add 7/8” to the FINISHED SIZE of your half-square triangles. For example, if you want your finished block to be 2 ½”, your calculation will be 2 ½” + 7/8” = 3 3/8”. NOTE: This calculation is for very accurate sewing. If you want to have plenty of room to square up the blocks then you can simply add 1” to the FINISHED SIZE of your half-square triangles. Strip Method for Half-Square Triangles
For this method, you will cut a strip of dark and a strip of light fabric the width of the FINISHED SIZE of your half-square triangles + 1 inch. Pair the two strips right sides together. On the wrong side of the light strip, draw lines the same distance apart as the width of the strip. Draw solid diagonal lines as shown. Stitch ¼” away from each side of each diagonal line as shown. Cut apart on all solid lines. How to calculate what size of strips and squares to use: Add 1” to the FINISHED SIZE of your half-square triangles. This will be the width of your strip. It will also be the distance between lines. For example, if you want your finished blocks to be 3”, you will cut 4” strips and draw lines 4” apart all the way across your strip of fabric. This method will yield two half-square triangles per square.
4 Half-Square Triangles at Once (Bias Edges)
For this method, you will pair a light square with a dark square, right sides together. Stitch all the way around the square with a ¼” seam. Cut on the solid lines. This method will yield 4 half-square triangles with bias edges. How to calculate what size of squares to use:
Decide what the desired FINISHED size is for your half-square triangles. Add 1” to that measurement. Find the measurement on the above chart that is just one increment larger than the resulting measurement, and use the coordinating Beginning Square Size. For example, if you want to have 2 ½” FINISHED size half-square triangles, add 1” to make 3 ½”. The next highest measurement on the chart is 3.54”, so you will start with 5.5” squares.
8 Half-Square Triangles at Once
For this method, you will pair a light square with a dark square, right sides together. On the wrong side of the light square, draw the solid lines as shown above. Stitch on both sides of each diagonal line, ¼” away from the drawn lines. Cut on all solid lines. This method will yield 8 half-square triangles. How to calculate what size of squares to use: (size of finished block + 7/8) x2 For example if you want your finished block to be 2 1/2″ your calculation will be: (2 ½” + 7/8″) x 2 = 6 ¾” So the beginning square size needs to be 6 ¾”. This will result in 8 unfinished squares that are 3″ each. When you sew them into the project you will be using a ¼” seam which will bring down the square to a finished 2 ½” square. NOTE: This calculation is for very accurate sewing. If you want to have plenty of room to square up the blocks then you can round up the size of the square. So for our example, we ended up with 6 ¾”, so you would round that up to 7″.
PRACTICE: Calculate how big you would cut squares using each of the four methods outlined above to make the Double Z block on page 20 as a 16” finished block. For this example, assume that you would make the block using only two fabrics – one dark and one white. Finished size of each HST: Square size for 2 HST at a time:
Square size for four half-square triangles at a time:
Number of Squares to cut:
Number of Squares to cut:
Strip/square size for Strip Method:
Square size for 8 HST at a time:
Number of squares to draw on strip:
Number of Squares to cut:
Length of strip needed:
For this method, you will pair a light square with a dark square, right sides together. On the wrong side of the light square, draw a diagonal line. Stitch on both sides of the diagonal line, ¼” away from the drawn line. Cut apart on the solid line. This method will yield 2 half-square triangles. How to calculate what size of squares to use: Add 7/8” to the FINISHED SIZE of your half-square triangles. For example, if you want your finished block to be 2 ½”, your calculation will be 2 ½” + 7/8” = 3 3/8”. NOTE: This calculation is for very accurate sewing. If you want to have plenty of room to square up the blocks then you can simply add 1” to the FINISHED SIZE of your half-square triangles. Strip Method for Half-Square Triangles
For this method, you will cut a strip of dark and a strip of light fabric the width of the FINISHED SIZE of your half-square triangles + 1 inch. Pair the two strips right sides together. On the wrong side of the light strip, draw lines the same distance apart as the width of the strip. Draw solid diagonal lines as shown. Stitch ¼” away from each side of each diagonal line as shown. Cut apart on all solid lines. How to calculate what size of strips and squares to use: Add 1” to the FINISHED SIZE of your half-square triangles. This will be the width of your strip. It will also be the distance between lines. For example, if you want your finished blocks to be 3”, you will cut 4” strips and draw lines 4” apart all the way across your strip of fabric. This method will yield two half-square triangles per square.
4 Half-Square Triangles at Once (Bias Edges)
For this method, you will pair a light square with a dark square, right sides together. Stitch all the way around the square with a ¼” seam. Cut on the solid lines. This method will yield 4 half-square triangles with bias edges. How to calculate what size of squares to use:
Decide what the desired FINISHED size is for your half-square triangles. Add 1” to that measurement. Find the measurement on the above chart that is just one increment larger than the resulting measurement, and use the coordinating Beginning Square Size. For example, if you want to have 2 ½” FINISHED size half-square triangles, add 1” to make 3 ½”. The next highest measurement on the chart is 3.54”, so you will start with 5.5” squares.
8 Half-Square Triangles at Once
For this method, you will pair a light square with a dark square, right sides together. On the wrong side of the light square, draw the solid lines as shown above. Stitch on both sides of each diagonal line, ¼” away from the drawn lines. Cut on all solid lines. This method will yield 8 half-square triangles. How to calculate what size of squares to use: (size of finished block + 7/8) x2 For example if you want your finished block to be 2 1/2″ your calculation will be: (2 ½” + 7/8″) x 2 = 6 ¾” So the beginning square size needs to be 6 ¾”. This will result in 8 unfinished squares that are 3″ each. When you sew them into the project you will be using a ¼” seam which will bring down the square to a finished 2 ½” square. NOTE: This calculation is for very accurate sewing. If you want to have plenty of room to square up the blocks then you can round up the size of the square. So for our example, we ended up with 6 ¾”, so you would round that up to 7″.
PRACTICE: Calculate how big you would cut squares using each of the four methods outlined above to make the Double Z block on page 20 as a 16” finished block. For this example, assume that you would make the block using only two fabrics – one dark and one white. Finished size of each HST: Square size for 2 HST at a time:
Square size for four half-square triangles at a time:
Number of Squares to cut:
Number of Squares to cut:
Strip/square size for Strip Method:
Square size for 8 HST at a time:
Number of squares to draw on strip:
Number of Squares to cut:
Length of strip needed:
