Did you see my post about my Crazy life & the announcement I did yesterday? If not…
That means I’m not able to sew up the fun projects I normally do for Saturday. But I’ll get back to soon, so in the meantime, I’ll share tutorials and tips and other free projects I’ve done over the years. Will that work?
Today I want to share a tool that makes our lives easier when doing half square triangles. This is the one I personally use to trim Half Square Triangles when making two at a time.
I like this Quilt in a Day ruler because one side has the numbers in halves, and the other side has full number.
I adore making and using HST in quilts and since I over size and then trim, this is a much quicker method to get the accurate final square.
Most of the time our HST are a half number and final size is a full number.
For example = A FINISHED 4″ sized HST is 4 1/2″ before we sew it into our block.
Find the 4 1/2″ line on the ruler.
Place that 4 1/2″ line on the SEAM of the HST.
This is the key!
Now you see there is fabric hanging out both sides. I like to somewhat center the ruler and trim twice instead of trying to trim just one side.
But you can experiment with your units to see what works best for you.
I trimmed the triangle perfectly…
ready to open it up!
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You will press open the triangle to create a perfect square.
I usually press to the darker side.
And there you go, a quicker way to trim up oversized HST units for perfect squares every time!
Do you have something you’d like me to do a tutorial on? Leave me a comment!
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The AWESOME rolling car that I use and it comes in several colors
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13 Responses
OMG…I’ve had this ruler still sealed in its original packaging for awhile now, can’t remember why I bought it..lol. never knew what it was or how to use it. Learned what it’s use was here on your page, watched an Eleanor Burns you tube video and walla…..it’s now my favorite ruler!
I love this method I have been opening, putting the ruler/square centered then cutting 4 sides this way will be so much faster and accurate.
I use the Tucker Trimmer for trimming HST.
My only tool for trimming hst. I also have the large one for trimming hst made from 10″ squares. Love this method.
I have a lot of QIAD rulers including this one. I think I love it because it’s not cluttered with a lot of additional lines-some rulers need a road map to find the measurement you want. I made a lot of mistakes by putting the line on the edge instead of the seam line but I finally remember now when I use it. I love her flying geese set also if I need a lot of flying geese. I also love Creative Grid rulers and I bought a couple of the Bloc Loc rulers which is awesome! Thanks for the post.
A thousand times, THANK YOU for posting this. It is going to cut several hours off my days.
1023 Glenvilla Dr
I’ll have to give this method a “go”. One of my most dreaded steps is to trim HST …right after tying up ends from machine embroidering.
I love Eleanor Burns rulers! Best ones for Flying geese, Peaky and Spike, and HSTs
Thanks Pat. I have one of these but didn’t know how to use it! Now I do!
Thank you. I have this ruler and did not know the proper way to use it. I will bring the ruler to the front of the pack!
I have this tool for trimming HST and I love it. I use it a lot.
I must have missed this. I picked one of these little things on a trip and couldn’t figure it out. Thanks for reposting this.