How to Make a Lot of Quick Half Squares for Quilting
- 1). Cut strips of quilt cotton using a rotary cutter, mat and ruler. Make the strips the width of your chosen quilt square patch. If you want to work with 4-inch squares, make strips that are 4 inches wide.
- 2). Cut each strip into a series of squares. Take care to keep all the cuts on the straight of grain, avoiding any diagonal variation.
- 3). Pair up the squares into sets of two, with two different colors in each pair. Most patterns call for a light and a dark fabric or a patterned fabric with a plain partner. Place these squares with the right sides together and the edges even. Pin the pairs together.
- 4). Turn each pair so that the lighter-colored square is on top. Draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner, bisecting the square into two triangles.
- 5). Place one pair on the bed of the sewing machine. Sew a line 1/4 inch to the right of the marked line. Stop sewing when you are 1/4 inch from the end. Place a second pair on the bed of the machine right behind the first. Go back to stitching and push the second pair right behind the first. You will have two sewn pairs connected with a short thread chain.
- 6). Continue chain piecing in this manner until all the squares are sewn and are connected in one long chain. Cut the thread from the sewing machine and pull the chain of squares to the front.
- 7). Sew all the squares in the chain again, this time sewing 1/4 inch to the left of the marked line. You will have two diagonal seams running like train tracks across the center of each square with a line drawn in the middle.
- 8). Clip all the chain threads to separate the squares. Place each square onto the rotary mat and slice along the marked line with the rotary cutter, separating each square into two stitched triangle pairs.
- 9). Open up the triangle pairs into half squares. Press the seams toward the darker half of each square by running your fingers along the seam and pushing the fabric down firmly.
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