HST lightbulb moment...

So I'm working on a quilt which has a lot of half square triangles (HST's). I've been chain piecing to make the process a little faster.

As I was snipping the connecting threads, I had a light bulb moment.

Now, I'm probably very slow and one of the last quilters to figure this out, but snipping those tiresome ears on a HST are much faster if you cut the corners, before pressing the block open.











Oh my goodness! What a time saver!

How do you trim your HST's?

8 comments

  1. If you are making 2 at a time go ahead and press them open before you cut them in half. This keeps the distortion, stretching to a minimum. Also this is where an old fashioned clapper is really good.

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  2. Oh that is such a great tip! Trimming is my least favourite part of the quilting process (followed closely by basting!). I trim using a square ruler in the size I'm working with. I trim two sides, spin it around and trim the other two sides. I've always thought that a rotating mat would be great!

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  3. don't you just wish "someone" would tell you these things BEFORE you start the marathon! lol x thanks for sharing x

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  4. What?!? Mind blown. Thank goodness I saw this before I started in on a giant pile of HST units that need to be pressed open.

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  5. Wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing.

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  6. What a time-saver! Thank you for sharing.

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  7. Great idea, thanks for sharing.

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  8. if i need 4" i cut 41/4 inch squares,match two squares, pencil in cnr to cnr, sew each side of the line...cut on line open up, iron square off to 4" ... all trimmed and 2 hsts at once .. just discovered this little tip on the weekend when i made 20 churn dash blocks ...

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