Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along – Day 2

Welcome back for Day 2 of the Sweet Shoppe Quilt-Along!  I hope you all had a good weekend and that your fabrics are cut and ready to go!

Today we’ll be making half-square triangle units in both red and green.  The method we’ll be using makes 8 half-square-triangle units at a time—some quilters refer to it as the “Magic 8” method.  I like to make the half-square-triangle (or “HST”) units a bit bigger than they need to be to start out with and then trim them down to ensure that the HST units are the exact size that I need, so that’s the approach we’ll be taking today.

Ready to sew?  Here we go!

You’ll need to gather:

2 red print #3 5″ x 5″ squares
2 green print #3 5″ x 5″ squares
4 white 5″ x 5″ squares

To make your half-square-triangle units:

1.  On the wrong side of a white 5″ x 5″ square, use a pencil to lightly draw 2 diagonal lines a scant ¼” from each true diagonal of the square as follows.  If it helps, go ahead and draw the true diagonal lines first.

2.  Layer a marked white 5″ square atop a red/green print 5″ square, with right sides together.

4.  Use a rotary cutter to cut the unit in half vertically and horizontally and in between the seams to make 8 half-square-triangle units.

6.  Trim the HST units to measure 2″ x 2″ unfinished.  It helps to use a ruler with a 45° line on it.  Before trimming, make sure that the 45° line runs along the diagonal seam of the HST unit.  Trim the right and top edges of the HST unit.  Then turn the unit 180° and trim the two remaining edges in the same manner.

7.  Repeat with remaining red or green print and white 5″ squares to make 16 red print #3 half-square-triangle units and 16 green print #3 half-square-triangle units measuring 2″ x 2″ unfinished.

These versatile little HSTs couldn’t be simpler, but they’re pretty nonetheless!  We won’t be assembling these units into blocks today, so just reserve them for later.  Very mysterious…

And that’s it for Day 2!  I’ll see you back here on Wednesday for Day 3!