Genesis of a Quilt: Making the Half-square triangles

Each background 3" square is marked on the diagonal.

Half-square triangles are going to be stitched from a background square and a color square.  Each combination will make 2 half-square triangles.

This is a close-up showing the bright colors on the right and the confetti background on the left.

The first seam is made a scant quarter-inch to the left of the marked diagonal line.

Squares are chained together as the diagonals are sewn.

The chained squares are then reversed for the next seam.

The second seam is made on the opposite side of the diagonal, again a scant quarter-inch away from the marked line.

After the seams are completed, the chain of squares is separated.

Each set is now cut along the diagonal, leaving a pair of triangles.  The triangles will be opened up to make squares.

Squares to be cut apart on the left and yellow triangles on the right.

Here's a pile of yellow and orange triangles ready for the next step.

I've laid out the triangles on the ironing board.  First the triangles are pressed to set the seam, and then they are opened up and the seam pressed away from the background fabric.

Here's what they look like after the squares are pressed open.

The yellow and orange half-square triangles (HST) were the last of the various colors to make.  Here's a shot of the temporary storage box containing all the different colors for the quilt.

This next step is vital - trimming the HSTs to the exact size needed. 

Using a 6" square tool, the first cut trims two sides of the square, making sure the diagonals are lined up.

After taking the newly cut edges and lining them up on the 2 1/2 inch marks, the other sides are trimmed.

This shows the perfect HST under the tool and the excess fabric that has been cut away.

Here's a final view of a pile of perfect 2 1/2" HSTs on the right, with all the excess strips on the left.  You can see how important this step is - if the strips were left in, there is no way that the squares would line up and lay flat.  

Redwork Teddy Bears

This quilt is one I made for Alexis and Jimmy's daughter Catherine. The kit came from Jack Dempsey's needle arts. I had lots of fun embroidering the bears - they were all different and had their own personalities. I used a red marble for the sashing and pink hearts for the backing. Virginia Gore did the machine quilting.

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Rocking Horses

This baby quilt for Noemi R. is a departure from my usual quilting style. The kit was purchased at Stitching Corner, which was located in West Jordan, UT. The fabric squares are fleece, and I used my Pfaff embroidery unit to create the rocking horses on alternate squares. The backing was a soft pastel flannel. The quilt was tied with a pink crochet thread and completed in March of 2006.

Sunflowers

The Sunflowers wall hanging belongs to Sean R. of Westford, MA. The pattern called for lots of little tiny pieces assembled to create the flowers. Because of the sizes and shapes of the pieces, it wasn't possible to do any time-saving steps like strip piecing except for the border, which was constructed from strip sets of orange, gold and yellow. I pieced the flowers from various greens, oranges, golds and yellows and did the machine quilting as well. The quilt was finished in March of 2005.

Sunny Lanes

I constructed 2 Sunny Lanes quilts in 2005. The pattern comes from the book Nickel Quilts by Path Speth and Charlene Thode. The squares are constructed from 5" squares of fabrics sewn in four-patch and half-square triangle units, and then assembled into 16" blocks that are alternately rotated a quarter turn, creating the "lanes" effect. Virginia Gore of Mapleton, UT, did the machine quilting.

The quilt belonging to Amy W. of Houston, TX, has a green border. The 2nd quilt which is on my bed at home, has a border made up of four-patch squares from the same fabrics as found in the quilt.

Bear Claws

Bear Claws was designed and constructed for Dan W. in 2009. The green, blue and brown fabrics were purchased in Beaumont, TX at Aunt Lorraine's favorite quilt shop. The background fabric is a cream-colored fabric with gold specks. The backing is a brown paisley fabric. Quilting was done by Virginia Gore of Mapleton, UT.

My favorite part of this quilt was designing and constructing the stars in the post and sashing. I placed small triangles on the sashing strips to create the points of the stars.

On the Move

This is another quilt kit from Keepsake Quilting. The dye-cut shapes included cars, trucks and planes, with small black wheels for the cars and trucks. This is for a Rains grandbaby due in Sept. 2009. The quilting was done by Virgina Gore of Mapleton, UT, and includes lots of fun detail. The backing is navy blue Minkee fabric.