Half Square Triangle Tutorial

  There is more than one method to making a half square triangle. This method is useful for making a large quantity of half square triangles in a short amount of time.

  Step 1. After you have your fabric, make sure that it is cut 1 inch larger than your desired finished size. The squares pictured are 4 1/2 inch squares. Our finished product will measure 3 1/2 inch square

    Stack your two contrasting fabrics together, wrong side out.

  Step 2. Use your ruler to draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the fabric.


  It isn't necessary to draw the quarter inch lines on each side of the center line, but I like the reference lines to sew on.

Step 3. Sew a 1/4 inch seam on each side of the center line. 

Chain sew down each side and clip apart.

  Step 4. Using your ruler again, cut down the center of each square, creating two triangles. 
  
  Set your seams with iron and press your seam to the darker of your two fabrics.

   
   Step 5. Use your ruler to trim each half square triangle.
Trim the top and side, rotate, and repeat. The finished unit will measure to be a 3 1/2 inch square.

This piece will be attached to each side of your flying geese units and will be used to complete your Star in a Star Block. You will also use the Half Square Triangle Method to create your Star in a Star Points.

The Weather

   It was officially Spring last week and we had gorgeous weather. I think this weekend Mother Nature was playing a cruel trick on us. It's been chilly the past few days, but I wasn't expecting 3-5 inches of snow. 

   These were taken yesterday morning around 10 am, while I was sitting at the table sewing. I always enjoy this fat little squirrel, he's become a regular at the bird feeders since we moved here a year ago. 

 

    And this is the same tree at 4:30 pm...showing no signs of stopping.

     We live out in the country and I don't think we got quite 3 inches, but surrounding areas got 3 - 5 inches.

 This morning there is still the slight trace of snow in the trees and on the ground, but the sun is shining bright...which is something we haven't seen in the past few days. I'm hoping to enjoy the sunshine through the windows and finish the weekend project I've been working on....Pictures to come. 

Brody enjoying the morning sunshine today!

Assembling the Plain Variable Star

 

It's a little over do and quite a simple task...making sure your seams all line up is probably the only thing you need to pay close attention to. I only had to rip apart 2 of my 7 blocks, so not too bad.

Spring has Sprung

Brody Sunbathing

It was such a beautiful First Day of Spring today!! Nearly 80 degrees here today! I enjoyed the some sun, fun, and sewing. I don't know where the week or weekend went. I had a busy week of baking, subbing, spring cleaning, and on top of that everyone in this house has been a bit under the weather.

I'm not really sure if I have accomplished anything while sewing today...I have a large stack that needs trimmed, a medium sized stack that needs ripped apart and re-sewn, and a small stack that is completed. It was a two steps forward, one step back kind of day.

I have made progress on the next quilting tutorial I am working on and will hopefully have it complete by tomorrow evening. So look for the Plain Variable Star Tutorial  later this week.

I am happy to share that I am participating in a Scrap Swap over at Sew Tara. I was paired with Barb from Connecticut. She is originally a Midwest girl like myself and her hometown is just 3 hours from my home. It's a small world and I am excited to send my swap.

 I've gotten some great photos in the past few weeks and I really need to spend more time converting from RAW. It's so time consuming, but I will leave you with this sweet shot.

My Sweet Tiki Girl Chewing on a Hotwheel.

Churning Butter

I had some left over whipping cream in the fridge and saw on Prudent Baby there post on Homemade Butter. Nick loves salty butter, so I gave it a go... It was super easy to make. Now I know what I'll be doing with all the leftover cream...MAKING FLAVORED BUTTER!!

 

Now to bake some fresh bread to go with my tasty butter!

Touch Up Tuesday

   I've been super busy lately and I finally had time yesterday evening to work on a Touch up Tuesday Photo. This photo was taken 2 weeks ago. It was early morning and there was still a little layer of ice on the far side of the lake; the fountain was off and the reflection was beautiful. I took the same shot the night before with a full moon in the sky, but was too lazy to get my tripod and it has a little camera shake...maybe I'll post it another day.

BEFORE

AFTER

I edited the photo in PSE 8. I straightened the image and then cropped it. Adjusted the Levels and used the Burn Tool to reduce the Sun Flare on the top right hand corner.

Flying Geese Tutorial

  

I'm continuing on my quilt and this week's lesson was on Flying Geese. This is one of the most common techniques found in quilting and I struggled with the directions that I had. 

I read several tutorials and watched videos online about how to assemble this unit and not a single tutorial I found explained it how my directions wanted me to do it. It would have been easy to follow one of these tutorials, but I already had my fabric cut to the proper size triangles as by my recommended instructions. 

So I powered on and through a little trial and error, I finished my Flying Geese unit by using the 3 Triangle Method...which I doubt is the easiest, but it's what I was told to do. Here is my tutorial on how to make a Flying Geese unit, using the 3 Triangle Method.  

Step 1: Start by pinning one of your sky pieces to your goose piece, right sides facing each other.

Line up your edges, so that they are even and pin in the bottom corner. You want the bottom the to be exactly even. The top point will overlap the background fabric.

If you are left-handed you may want to pin the opposite side first. 

Step 2: After all of your pieces are pinned you can start sewing. 

I chose to start at the top with the overlapped corner and sew to the bottom pinned corner. Making sure the keep a steady 1/4 inch seam.

Avoid putting the top point directly under the needle as the machine will try to pull the point under the throat plate.

 Step 3: Chain Sewing

I had no idea what chain sewing is until last week. I am sure glad that I gave it a try, it is a time saver...and thread saver.

When you have sewn to the end of the triangle, just keep going. Stop at the end of the fabric, but do not lift your presser foot. Place a new triangle against the presser foot and slowly press your pedal. The presser foot will feed in the new piece. Continue until all are finished. 

Step 4: Clip apart and stack your chain sewing. 

I am not much for finger pressing, so I set my seams with an iron. Use the cotton setting without any steam. 

Avoid moving the iron back and forth, so you do not stretch your fabric. 

I would combine Steps 4 and 5 to save time. No need to set all of your seams before you press them open. Completing these in one step will save you time. I just wanted to make sure that I included all of the pictures. 

Step 5: Gently lift the sky piece and nudge the iron towards the center. On the reverse side the seam should go out towards the sky piece.

After the sky piece is nudged open you can lift the iron and set it on the seam. Again, avoid moving the iron back and forth. 

Repeat on all pieces. 

Step 6: Now that you have sewn and pressed your fabric, you are ready to start pinning your second sky piece.

I like to set it up assembly line style and crank them all out at once...leaving them complete for the next time I decide to work on them . 

These photos were taken over several days, it would be nearly impossible for me to do all of this in one sitting. 

Step 7: I chose to pin my pieces at both ends, so that the edges would stay lined up as I shuffled them around.

Just like in Step 1, keep your bottom edges aligned perfectly and the top point will form a V with the point that is already sewn. 

Step 8:  More Chain sewing.

Still keeping a 1/4 inch seam, I started by sewing at the bottom corner this time.

I removed the pin before I slid it under the presser foot. Making sure to keep the edges aligned as I began to sew. 

Sew all units and Repeat Steps 4 & 5 before beginning Step 9.

Step 9. The Flying Geese units are always twice as wide as they are tall. 


You can use a straight ruler to trim the unit. I didn't have a thin enough ruler, so I used a 6 1/2 inch square. 


The finished piece will measure 3 1/2  x 6 1/2, allowing for a quarter inch seam. 


To trim the fabric you must be able to find the middle. The 3 1/4 inch  mark on the center and the dotted line under that mark should be on the point of the triangle. The triangle point will always be 1/4 inch from the fabric edge. 


Hold your ruler firmly and trim the top and one side. Then rotate your fabric on its side. 

Step 10: Now that your fabric is rotated you want to place the ruler on top of your fabric. The 6 1/2 inch mark will be placed along the bottom edge and the 3 1/2 inch mark should line up with your already trimmed edge. 


When your ruler is all lined up, hold firmly and trim the top and side. 


This should leave you with a perfect 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangle.