This project has been designed by Laura Strutt, a designer maker and the author of a number of craft books. For more details on Laura’s books visit Amazon Author Central.
This project is kindly sponsored by The Cotton Patch – a specialist patchwork and quilting shop with a large range of pre-cut fabrics.
Half Square Triangles are both simple and incredibly versatile – you can create a wide range of designs and motifs. This mini quilt makes use of the repeated angles to highlight the tonal gradient of the fabrics. It’s a great beginner friendly quilting project.
The quilt is worked using a selection of a Charm Pack in tones reminiscent of seaglass. However, you can use any tonal shades form the Charm Pack to create a similar design with a different shade as the focus.
You will need…
Stitch Check Charm Pack – from The Cotton Patch
Selection of solid cotton to coordinate – white charm pack or quilting cotton 25in x 30in and green quilting cotton for backing 25in x 30in
Vlieseline 80/20 wadding – 25in x 30in www.vlieseline.com/en/
Bias tape 2in wide – this can be custom made or pre-made as desired – minimum 2.5m
Small, sharp quilting needle & cotton
Pins & quilt clips
Rotary cutter, ruler & cutting mat
Scissors
Sewing machine – with quilting and walking foot
Iron & ironing board
Notes
Finished size – 20.5in x 23.5in.
1/4in seam allowance is used through out.
TIP: Using chain piecing, without cutting the threads between joining blocks, makes the construction of the quilt a lot quicker.
TIP: This quilt features coloured and white fabrics, to avoid the seams ghosting (being visible) on the front of the work, press the seams towards the darker fabrics throughout.
To Sew
1. Select and trim Charms
From the Charm Pack, select 15 squares in a range of tones of a shade – this quilt blends from blues, to greens and on to cream. Using the rotary cutter and ruler slice the Charms in half along the diagonal to create 30 half square triangles.
2. Create the white triangles
Working with either a white charm pack or white fabric, repeat to cut 15 x 5in squares and trim to half square triangles across the diagonal. Arrange the design into rows of 5 x 6 with each block created with a coloured and white triangle. The composition of this quilt works from light to dark, but you can reverse this or customise it as you please.
2. Create the half square blocks
Working with each pair of coloured and white triangles in turn, place right sides together and join along the long diagonal to create a block. Work by chain piecing, not cutting the threads, to speed up the process.
3. Press the squares
Carefully press each of the square blocks with the seams pressed towards the darker fabrics.
4. Join the squares into rows then join the rows to strips
Working from one side to the other join the block into 6 rows of 5 blocks, then once the rows are completed join the rows together in the same manner, being sure to press the seams to the darker fabrics.
5. Press and layer the quilt
Trim the quilt top to neaten and, with right side uppermost, place on top of the wadding and backing fabric with the right side of the backing fabric outermost, and press to neaten. Ensure that there is a small border of backing fabric and the wadding. Pin in place as desired to be quilted.
6. Quilt the project
With your preferred method, hand or machine, quilt the surface of the quilt. This project features straight line quilting to highlight the rows and blocks, but you can free motion quilt if preferred.
7. Trim the quilt
Using a rotary cutter, ruler and mat, carefully trim the excess backing and wadding and esnsure that the quilt sides are straight and neat. Press the whole quilt.
8. Secure the binding
Position the binding around the right side of the quilt neatly aligning the raw edges and mitring the corners. Secure in place with machine stitching. Fold the binding over to the right side and press to neaten before securing into place with neat hand slip stitches to finish.
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