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    Home » Blog

    Playing with Half-Square Triangles

    October 11, 2010 by Amy 46 Comments

    I’ve been cranking out half-square triangles lately. 

     I loved the Freebird collection that came out last Spring. I was very disciplined and bought only one charm pack and traded for some yardage for a back.  The colors in this collection go so well with my American Jane  horde stash. (With the exception of the purple.) So I’ve been cutting into that too.

     And playing with the options. I haven’t even decided what I’m going to do with them all yet. I like each layout – I may just keep cranking out the hst’s and try them all! Plus – it feels good to use the stash. This is my goal these days – start depleting. Which is what motivated me to dig out all the Halloween fabric too. And I’m making progress. Pictures to come!

    PS – Thanks for bearing with the “keepin’ it real” post below. And for the encouragement. I always feel like such a whiner after those unloads. But when I start having dreams that I forgot to buy my kids any Christmas presents (which I really had last week) I start to wonder about re-prioritizing. All right, that’s all for now.

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    Filed Under: half-square triangles

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Elizabeth D.

      October 11, 2010 at 6:27 am

      I really dig the zigzag! I've never really done straight-up triangle blocks like this before, but wow, they look great. I think you just convinced me to try it out on my scraps too!

      Reply
    2. pioneervalleygirl

      October 11, 2010 at 6:28 am

      I love all of the options, when I make hst's — have fun playing with them

      Reply
    3. joliesjunebugboutique

      October 11, 2010 at 6:34 am

      I love the zigzag! Very cute!<br />Ps. Loved the keeping it real post!

      Reply
    4. Michele

      October 11, 2010 at 6:43 am

      They looks wonderful! So crisp and vibrant!

      Reply
    5. Leigh

      October 11, 2010 at 6:56 am

      Oh I LOOOOVE the zig zags!!!

      Reply
    6. John'aLee

      October 11, 2010 at 7:12 am

      Oh I just love your post. I know it takes time to do all of those different arrangements…so thanks for taking the time to not only do it…but in sharing it with all of us! It makes me want to go and start some half square triangles.<br />Is there a favorite method you? Such as the triangle paper??

      Reply
    7. Gaertegang

      October 11, 2010 at 7:31 am

      My boys and I vote for the last option you did with the half squares…love it!!

      Reply
    8. paulette

      October 11, 2010 at 7:38 am

      I LOVE them ALL!! I can see I&#39;m going to HAVE to make one/all of these…THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INSPIRATION!! So bright, happy and cheerful!!<br />Paulette

      Reply
    9. Des

      October 11, 2010 at 8:12 am

      love, love, love the zig zag and that you&#39;ve put them in colored rows. FUN!

      Reply
    10. SteffiD

      October 11, 2010 at 8:19 am

      Okay, I&#39;m totally voting for the zig-zag!! I have a new-found obsession with them starting around two weeks ago 🙂 Besides, your colors are GORGEOUS and scream ziggies. I will say the diamonds are pretty darn cute, too.

      Reply
    11. Anna

      October 11, 2010 at 8:36 am

      love those different options, very cool. 🙂 I&#39;ve been wanting to do a zig zag quilt FOREVER! You may have just spurred me on.

      Reply
    12. Sherri

      October 11, 2010 at 8:44 am

      LOVE the combination of these fabrics…FreeBird and American Jane…wonderful!

      Reply
    13. live a colorful life

      October 11, 2010 at 8:53 am

      The zigzag layout is my favorite. I might do that with AJ Punctuation. What do you think?

      Reply
    14. Quiet Quilter

      October 11, 2010 at 8:55 am

      Love the variety of choices…can&#39;t decide…guess it is up to you.<br /><br />BEauTIful Fabric!

      Reply
    15. mascanlon

      October 11, 2010 at 9:14 am

      I love HSTs too. And they are wonderful to do with charm packs!

      Reply
    16. snippetsandyarns

      October 11, 2010 at 9:16 am

      I agree with everyone that the zig zag layout looks great. But I also love the diamonds just as much!<br /><br />~ Meagan

      Reply
    17. Jennifer

      October 11, 2010 at 9:50 am

      American Jane, Freebird, and HST&#39;s… three of my favorites! Love your different layouts!<br /><br />Jennifer 🙂

      Reply
    18. Heather

      October 11, 2010 at 9:51 am

      eeeek!! ZIG to the ZAG!!! fabulous!!<br /><br />xo

      Reply
    19. DJ Rose

      October 11, 2010 at 10:09 am

      I love each of those layouts. I can see your struggle. I would never have thought of the zig zag lines. That may be my favorite. <br /><br />On another note, a friend from Reno emailed a link to your messanger bag the other day, and I was all excited cause I &quot;knew&quot; you already. 🙂

      Reply
    20. Jeanne

      October 11, 2010 at 10:10 am

      The zig zags are my favorite! Fun package of fabrics, too.

      Reply
    21. Layne Bushell

      October 11, 2010 at 10:23 am

      I&#39;m jealous of the freebird charm pack. I didn&#39;t buy any of it and I&#39;m not happy with myself! I think this is one of my all time favorites! I refrained from getting it cause I&#39;m in the deplete the stash mode! <br /><br />I vote for the diamond look! It&#39;s so clean and I love the texture it makes! HST&#39;s are my arch nemesis. Even with thangles. Do you have any tips and

      Reply
    22. Jen

      October 11, 2010 at 1:18 pm

      Bright and cheerful! Thanks for starting out my day with your post!

      Reply
    23. Trudi

      October 11, 2010 at 3:19 pm

      Mmmm, that&#39;s a happy blog post if evr I saw one! Love those zig zags 🙂

      Reply
    24. AMKreations

      October 11, 2010 at 4:07 pm

      I&#39;m sitting here looking at so many great ideas! Wow…I really want to get busy…I have some fabric I need to get cutting…cause these triangles are inspiring! =)

      Reply
    25. Marg

      October 11, 2010 at 4:45 pm

      I love the zigzag. HST&#39;s are great as there are so many options in the layout. I am just about to start on my own HST project.

      Reply
    26. Aunt Spicy

      October 11, 2010 at 5:36 pm

      All of a sudden I feel kind of boring cause I love the straight up triangles! But of course what ever you do it will be lovely!

      Reply
    27. Angie

      October 11, 2010 at 9:13 pm

      Oh my- the diamonds! I just love it. You are so inspiring! I mean that- so much! I check your blog (you are one of my favorite, favorite, favorites) and love how much inspiration I always walk away with! And I should tell you more often! Thank you ;).

      Reply
    28. Annette

      October 11, 2010 at 10:55 pm

      The zig zag!Didn;t know it was that simple to make zig zag. Cool. And very VERY refreshing.

      Reply
    29. Margaret @ Konstant Kaos

      October 11, 2010 at 11:49 pm

      I have a charm pack waiting to be cut, this seems like a good idea! I like the second ziggy zaggy design. The last one is more of what we have seen before, but the middle one is different. Can&#39;t wait to see if finished.

      Reply
    30. Anna

      October 12, 2010 at 12:27 am

      I&#39;m loving the look of these – I really am! You have such great looking easy ideas for quilts that are so suited to me and my tastes!! Thankyou for putting in the time to share your ideas and inspiration with all us avid creators too!!<br />Anna<br />anna@ourinfo.biz

      Reply
    31. madebymum

      October 12, 2010 at 12:34 am

      decisions decision!

      Reply
    32. Dresden Quilter

      October 12, 2010 at 10:27 am

      I love your half square triangles. I am making a child&#39;s quilt right now with half square triangles using the mosaic pattern.

      Reply
    33. an encourager

      October 12, 2010 at 12:42 pm

      What fun you are having.. and me, too, watching you play!

      Reply
    34. Stray Stitches

      October 12, 2010 at 2:17 pm

      Such wonderful fabric to be working with. I think the zigzag is the best design yet!

      Reply
    35. americanfamily

      October 12, 2010 at 2:58 pm

      Loving the half square triangles! Especially the second one with the diamonds on point! Can&#39;t wait to see what you settle on. Sharon

      Reply
    36. Q @ JAQS

      October 12, 2010 at 10:55 pm

      First off – LOVE the colors.<br /><br />I like the zig zag one the most. Though those colors with any pattern looks gorgeous. <br /><br />Great post. Love the different varieties of matching up those half triangles 🙂

      Reply
    37. Belgin Pancar AKÇAY

      October 17, 2010 at 9:28 am

      hepsi çok güzel en kısa zamanda deniycem:)

      Reply
    38. Nanette Merrill and daughters

      October 18, 2010 at 2:54 pm

      Love all the things you can do with half square triangles. They are a good leaders/enders thing to make.

      Reply
    39. Lisa

      March 22, 2011 at 10:07 pm

      This is lovely … bright! I just finished a hst with my Freebird stash (and have another one in the works) … I used chocolate instead of white (which made it hard to use the browns) but loved the brightness with both the chocolate as well as the brown … ended up with a envelope pattern with the HSTs!

      Reply
    40. STLhistory

      June 19, 2011 at 8:21 pm

      I&#39;m interested in making a similar zig-zag quilt for a crib and I was wondering what the size of your half-square triangles were. LOVE all of your variations. Keep posting!

      Reply
    41. STLhistory

      June 19, 2011 at 8:24 pm

      I&#39;m interested in making a similar zig-zag quilt for a crib and I was wondering what the size of your half-square triangles were. LOVE all of your variations. Keep posting!

      Reply
    42. amy smart

      June 20, 2011 at 5:21 pm

      HI STLhistory (hoping you&#39;ll see this here.) I started with 5&quot; squares to make the half square triangles. Hope that helps!

      Reply
    43. Mary

      February 03, 2012 at 5:58 pm

      Amy, what is the finished size of of each square? It looks like 2&quot;. The quilt looks beautiful. Wonderful job.<br /><br />Mary2alight@aol.com

      Reply

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