Enjoy 20% off + a Free Pattern!

Aren't freebies the best?! Sign-up for my email list and I'll send a coupon for 20% off one order AND a free quilt block pattern right to your inbox. 
(You can unsubscribe anytime.)

Plus, you'll be the first to know about new products, quilting tutorials, and exclusive discounts like
25% off the Pattern & Bundle of the Month

Sign-up for updates & get 20% off + a Free Pattern!

  • Log in
  • Cart (0)
  • Checkout
  • Blog 
    • Visit the Blog
    • Newsletter Sign-up
  • Fabric 
    • Featured Bundle of the Month
    • All Yardage
    • Fabric Collections 
      • BEST Ombre Confetti by V and Co.
      • NEW! Color Crush by V and Co.
      • Gilded by Alli K.
      • Grunge by BasicGrey
      • I Heart Ombre by V and Co.
      • Moda Bella Solids
      • Ombre by V and Co. (original)
      • Ombre Confetti by V and Co.
      • Ombre Fairy Dust by V and Co.
      • Ombre Flurries by V and Co.
      • Ombre Galaxy Metallic by V and Co.
      • Ombre Wovens by V and Co.
      • Pure Solids by Art Gallery Fabrics
      • Spotted by Zen Chic
      • Thatched by Robin Pickens
      • 108" wide Ombre Confetti Backing Fabric by V and Co.
    • Fabric Designers 
      • BasicGrey
      • Robin Pickens
      • V and Co.
      • Zen Chic
      • Sharon Schamber
    • Precut Bundles 
      • Limited Edition Bundles
      • V & Co Ombre - Precut Bundles
      • Art Gallery Fabrics - Precut Bundles
      • NEW! Fat Eighth Bundles
      • Jelly Rolls
      • Fat Quarter Bundles
      • Half Yard Bundles
      • Hand Dyed Fabric Bundles
    • Quilt Kits
    • Seasonal Bundles & Kits
    • New Fabrics 
      • I Heart Ombre by V & Co.
      • BEST Ombre Confetti by V & Co.
      • AGF Sewcialites Bundles
      • AGF Holiday Bundles
      • AGF Bundle Up Bundles
      • Birthstone Bundles
    • Fabrics by Color 
      • Birthstone Bundles
      • Rainbow
      • Red
      • Pink
      • Coral
      • Orange
      • Yellow
      • Green
      • Aqua
      • Blue
      • Purple
      • Grey/Black
      • Neutral
      • Brown
    • Fabric Manufacturers 
      • Art Gallery Fabrics
      • Moda Fabrics
      • Sharon Schamber - Hand Dyed Fabric
    • Hand Dyed Fabric 
      • Hand Dyed Precuts
      • Hand Dyed Bundles
      • Hand Dyed Scrap Packs
    • All Fabric
    • Coming Soon - Preorder
    • Scrap Bags & Bolt Ends
    • Last Chance Fabrics
    • Destash Clearance Sale!
    • Discontinued Fabrics (all gone)
  • Patterns  
    • Pattern & Bundle of the Month
    • Pattern Designers 
      • A Quilted Life - Krista Moser
      • Alison Glass
      • Cluck Cluck Sew
      • Cristy Fincher
      • Latifah Saafir
      • Laundry Basket Quilts
      • Laura Heine - Fiberworks
      • Lo & Behold Stitchery
      • Lori Holt
      • Modern Handcraft
      • Needle in a Hayestack
      • Pen + Paper Patterns
      • Quilty Love - Emily Dennis
      • Robin Pickens
      • Sharon Schamber
      • Toad & Sew
      • V & Co.
      • Violet Craft
      • Color Girl Quilts
      • Nydia Kehnle
    • New Patterns
    • $6 Quilt Blocks - PDFs
    • Quilt Kits
    • Seasonal Quilt Patterns
    • All Patterns
    • Patterns by Type 
      • Collage Quilts
      • Cross Stitch & Embroidery
      • Curved Piecing
      • English Paper Piecing
      • Foundation Piecing
      • Machine Piecing
      • Tote Bags & Purses
    • Applique 
      • Raw-edge Applique
      • Turned-edge Applique
    • Quilt Binding
    • Printed Quilting Patterns
    • Quilt Designing
    • Quilt Painting
    • Hand-dying Fabric
    • 2019 BOM - The Gardens
    • 2018 BOM - Stellar Stars 
      • Stellar Stars - BOM Pattern
      • Fabric & Thread Kits
      • Stellar Stars BOM Supplies
      • Stellar Stars - Video Tutorials
    • 2017 BOM - Silk Society Stash 
      • Hand Dyed Fabric
      • Applique Patterns
      • Silk Thread Sets
      • Video Tutorials
    • Books
  • Notions 
    • New Notions & Supplies
    • Fun Stuff! 
      • Gifts under $5
      • Gifts under $10
      • Gifts under $15
    • Glue Basting
    • Thread 
      • Konfetti by Wonderfil
      • Cotton Thread
      • Thread Sets
      • Soie Perlee - Embroidery Thread
      • Soie de Paris - Embroidery Floss
      • Specialty Threads
    • Rulers & Cutters
    • Pins & Needles
    • Marking Tools
    • Interfacing & Foundation
    • Pressing Boards & Irons
    • For Machine Quilting
    • For Applique
    • For Curved Piecing
    • For Foundation Piecing
    • For Machine Embroidery
    • For Color & Design
    • Shop by Brand 
      • It's Sew Emma
      • Gypsy Quilter
    • Monthly Clubs
    • Preorder Class Kits
  • Online Courses 
    • Course Login
    • NEW! Free Motion Stipple Designs with Sharon Schamber
    • Unique Feathers with Sharon Schamber
    • Love Machine - Precise Piecing Course
    • Book a Class - Guilds & Groups
  • Free Motion Quilting 
    • Online Courses
    • Machine Quilting Notions
    • Domestic Machine Quilting CDs/DVDs
    • Longarm Machine Quilting CDs/DVDs
    • Longarm Digitized Designs
    • Free Video Tutorials
  • Digitized Designs
  • Blog 
    • Visit the Blog
    • Newsletter Sign-up
  • Fabric 
    • Featured Bundle of the Month
    • All Yardage
    • Fabric Collections 
      • BEST Ombre Confetti by V and Co.
      • NEW! Color Crush by V and Co.
      • Gilded by Alli K.
      • Grunge by BasicGrey
      • I Heart Ombre by V and Co.
      • Moda Bella Solids
      • Ombre by V and Co. (original)
      • Ombre Confetti by V and Co.
      • Ombre Fairy Dust by V and Co.
      • Ombre Flurries by V and Co.
      • Ombre Galaxy Metallic by V and Co.
      • Ombre Wovens by V and Co.
      • Pure Solids by Art Gallery Fabrics
      • Spotted by Zen Chic
      • Thatched by Robin Pickens
      • 108" wide Ombre Confetti Backing Fabric by V and Co.
    • Fabric Designers 
      • BasicGrey
      • Robin Pickens
      • V and Co.
      • Zen Chic
      • Sharon Schamber
    • Precut Bundles 
      • Limited Edition Bundles
      • V & Co Ombre - Precut Bundles
      • Art Gallery Fabrics - Precut Bundles
      • NEW! Fat Eighth Bundles
      • Jelly Rolls
      • Fat Quarter Bundles
      • Half Yard Bundles
      • Hand Dyed Fabric Bundles
    • Quilt Kits
    • Seasonal Bundles & Kits
    • New Fabrics 
      • I Heart Ombre by V & Co.
      • BEST Ombre Confetti by V & Co.
      • AGF Sewcialites Bundles
      • AGF Holiday Bundles
      • AGF Bundle Up Bundles
      • Birthstone Bundles
    • Fabrics by Color 
      • Birthstone Bundles
      • Rainbow
      • Red
      • Pink
      • Coral
      • Orange
      • Yellow
      • Green
      • Aqua
      • Blue
      • Purple
      • Grey/Black
      • Neutral
      • Brown
    • Fabric Manufacturers 
      • Art Gallery Fabrics
      • Moda Fabrics
      • Sharon Schamber - Hand Dyed Fabric
    • Hand Dyed Fabric 
      • Hand Dyed Precuts
      • Hand Dyed Bundles
      • Hand Dyed Scrap Packs
    • All Fabric
    • Coming Soon - Preorder
    • Scrap Bags & Bolt Ends
    • Last Chance Fabrics
    • Destash Clearance Sale!
    • Discontinued Fabrics (all gone)
  • Patterns  
    • Pattern & Bundle of the Month
    • Pattern Designers 
      • A Quilted Life - Krista Moser
      • Alison Glass
      • Cluck Cluck Sew
      • Cristy Fincher
      • Latifah Saafir
      • Laundry Basket Quilts
      • Laura Heine - Fiberworks
      • Lo & Behold Stitchery
      • Lori Holt
      • Modern Handcraft
      • Needle in a Hayestack
      • Pen + Paper Patterns
      • Quilty Love - Emily Dennis
      • Robin Pickens
      • Sharon Schamber
      • Toad & Sew
      • V & Co.
      • Violet Craft
      • Color Girl Quilts
      • Nydia Kehnle
    • New Patterns
    • $6 Quilt Blocks - PDFs
    • Quilt Kits
    • Seasonal Quilt Patterns
    • All Patterns
    • Patterns by Type 
      • Collage Quilts
      • Cross Stitch & Embroidery
      • Curved Piecing
      • English Paper Piecing
      • Foundation Piecing
      • Machine Piecing
      • Tote Bags & Purses
    • Applique 
      • Raw-edge Applique
      • Turned-edge Applique
    • Quilt Binding
    • Printed Quilting Patterns
    • Quilt Designing
    • Quilt Painting
    • Hand-dying Fabric
    • 2019 BOM - The Gardens
    • 2018 BOM - Stellar Stars 
      • Stellar Stars - BOM Pattern
      • Fabric & Thread Kits
      • Stellar Stars BOM Supplies
      • Stellar Stars - Video Tutorials
    • 2017 BOM - Silk Society Stash 
      • Hand Dyed Fabric
      • Applique Patterns
      • Silk Thread Sets
      • Video Tutorials
    • Books
  • Notions 
    • New Notions & Supplies
    • Fun Stuff! 
      • Gifts under $5
      • Gifts under $10
      • Gifts under $15
    • Glue Basting
    • Thread 
      • Konfetti by Wonderfil
      • Cotton Thread
      • Thread Sets
      • Soie Perlee - Embroidery Thread
      • Soie de Paris - Embroidery Floss
      • Specialty Threads
    • Rulers & Cutters
    • Pins & Needles
    • Marking Tools
    • Interfacing & Foundation
    • Pressing Boards & Irons
    • For Machine Quilting
    • For Applique
    • For Curved Piecing
    • For Foundation Piecing
    • For Machine Embroidery
    • For Color & Design
    • Shop by Brand 
      • It's Sew Emma
      • Gypsy Quilter
    • Monthly Clubs
    • Preorder Class Kits
  • Online Courses 
    • Course Login
    • NEW! Free Motion Stipple Designs with Sharon Schamber
    • Unique Feathers with Sharon Schamber
    • Love Machine - Precise Piecing Course
    • Book a Class - Guilds & Groups
  • Free Motion Quilting 
    • Online Courses
    • Machine Quilting Notions
    • Domestic Machine Quilting CDs/DVDs
    • Longarm Machine Quilting CDs/DVDs
    • Longarm Digitized Designs
    • Free Video Tutorials
  • Digitized Designs
Blog
Home   Blog   Half Square Triangle Tutorial: Magic Triangles, Part 1

Half Square Triangle Tutorial: Magic Triangles, Part 1

Half Square Triangles Piecing Tutorial

March 01, 2013


Half square triangles are a staple in almost any quilter's repertoire. They are simple, playful, and versatile. Rotating them around, to the right, left, or upside-down can change the look of your quilt completely. The posibilities are endless!

You might already have a favorite way to make HSTs. I'm offering you a different technique that you just might like a lot. I really hope you give it a try. A quilter can never have too many good techniques in their back pocket.

Sharon Schamber developed this fabulous technique, and fondly refers to it at Magic Triangles.

With this technique, you'll be able to:

  • Make a bunch of HSTs at once (2 FQs = about 40 2 1/2" HSTs!)
  • Keep that pesky bias stabilized, which reduces distortion
  • Be more precise
  • Customize the size of your HSTs, down to the 1/4 of an inch
  • Add a decorative flange or stripe, which can give a fun look to your HSTs (in part 3) 
  • And there are NO dog ears to trim
Well, let's get going... In this tutorial, I'll be showing you how to make 2 1/2", unfinished, HSTs. You can easily change the size of HSTs, with this technique.

What you'll need: (yep, I like lists, just a little bit)
  • Heavy Spray Starch (Usually, I use Faultless)
  • Rotary Cutter and Mat
  • Ruler (12" x 6")
  • Scissors
  • 2 Fat Quarters (contrasting colors)
Step 1:
Starch and press both of your FQs to get them nice and flat. Starch gives you control by stabilzing the grains and bias, which makes cutting and piecing much easier. Gotta love starch!


Tip: Spray the starch on one side of the fabric, then flip it over to press. This will keep the starch from turning white and flaking. It will also keep starch from building up on your iron.

 I like to starch and press both sides of the fabric once or twice.




Step 2:
Let's get ready to cut! Lay your FQs, wrong sides together (trust me). Line up your selvages on a verticle straight line. This will help keep your biases a consistent 45 degrees, while cutting. The unfinished HSTs will be 2 1/2", which is the same measurement as the strips we'll be cutting.


 Step 3:
If you can see your 45* line on your mat, this will help line up your ruler to cut the strips.
Cutting at the 2 1/2" will allow for our seam allowances.


Line up your ruler on the 45* angle, and cut at just about 3" here, just to give yourself a little cushion with the first strip's measurement. The rest of the strips will be cut at exactly 2 1/2".

And cut!



Step 4:
Gently pull both layers of fabric away from the strip which was just cut. This will create a small gap between the cut and uncut units. Be sure to pull from the right side, or selvage side, of the fabric.

Can you see that little gap I'm pointing out in the pic below? That gap is going to help you line up your ruler for the next cut. Without it, it's really hard to see the previous cutting line to make your next measurement.



Step 5:
Line up the 45* angle, right at the 2 1/2" mark on your ruler and cut your next strip.

Pull the uncut unit away from strip you just cut, to give yourself that little gap.

Go ahead and cut the rest of your 2 1/2" strips.


Step 6:
Once you've cut all of your strips, take every other strip and flip it over. You can see in the pic below that I've already flipped every other one over.


Step 7:
Next, we're going to stack our strips. We have two layers of strips, and we're only going to stack the top layer first. Take the first strip, in the corner, and put it right on top of the one next to it. Then take those two, and put it on the third strip, then the fourth, and so on until you have the entire top layer stacked together.

Repeat this for the bottom layer. You'll end up with two separate stacks of strips.


 Here are my two separate stacks of pretty little strips.


This is the end of part one of this tutorial. Part 2 is coming soon!!!

If you just can't wait, and want to jump ahead, here's my mom's free video for this part of the technique. The full length video is also available online.


Thank you for coming by! I'll see you soon for part 2 of Magic Triangles.

~Cristy


Tweet Share Pin It Email

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.


Also in Blog

Tariffs
My promise: Honesty, Support, & Stability through Tariff Changes

April 28, 2025

Have you been wondering about the what type of impact the new tariffs (coming May 1st) will have on your favorite quilting fabrics and supplies? There's a lot of info being thrown around and a lot of it can sound, well, scary. To give you some reassurance, let's have a chat about what I know and what you can expect from me and Purple Daisies Quilting…

Continue Reading

Prismatic Points - Sparkle Themed Quilt Block
Blog Hopping Machine Piecing Paper Piecing Quilt Block Mania Quilt Blocks Star Quilt Block
Prismatic Points - Sparkle Themed Quilt Block

December 03, 2024 1 Comment

Continue Reading

Flower Shop - Shop/Market Themed Quilt Block
Blog Hopping Machine Piecing Quilt Block Mania Quilt Blocks
Flower Shop - Shop/Market Themed Quilt Block

November 05, 2024

Continue Reading

Subscribe

+Recent Articles

  • My promise: Honesty, Support, & Stability through Tariff Changes
    April 28, 2025
  • Prismatic Points - Sparkle Themed Quilt Block
    December 03, 2024
  • Flower Shop - Shop/Market Themed Quilt Block
    November 05, 2024
  • Sweet Slice - Sweets Themed Quilt Block
    October 01, 2024
  • Gone Camping - Transportation Themed Quilt Block
    September 02, 2024
  • Quilted Tote Bag - Accessories Themed Quilt Block
    August 06, 2024
  • Book Lover - Books Themed Quilt Block
    July 02, 2024
  • Red Rocks - Mountain Themed Quilt Block
    June 04, 2024
  • Desert Poppy - Desert Themed Quilt Block
    May 07, 2024
  • Seaside Horizon - Beach Themed Quilt Block
    April 02, 2024

+Categories

  • View All
  • Applique
  • Binding
  • Blog Hopping
  • Book Review
  • Carrie Bloomston
  • Craftsy
  • Curved Piecing
  • Disney
  • Disneyland
  • DWRQAL
  • Fabric
  • Fabric Preparation
  • Foundation Piecing
  • Free Motion Quilting
  • Giveaway
  • Glow Stick Quilt
  • Glue
  • Glue Basting
  • Half Square Triangles
  • Hand Embroidery
  • Hand-dyed Fabric
  • Harry Potter
  • I Heart Ombre by V and Co.
  • Juki
  • Machine Piecing
  • Mickey Mouse
  • MicroFine Glue Tips
  • Mini Class
  • Mistakes
  • Mom
  • My Girlies
  • Ombre Fabric
  • Ombre Woven Stripes
  • One Little Word
  • Paper Piecing
  • Paperless Paper Piecing
  • Patterns
  • Personal
  • Piec-lique
  • Piecing
  • Podcast
  • Pressing Board
  • Quilt Block Mania
  • Quilt Blocks
  • QuiltCon 2015
  • Quilting
  • Quilting Matters
  • Reviews
  • Sewing
  • Sewing Machine
  • Shirts
  • Silk Society Stash
  • Silk Thread
  • Skirts
  • Spinning Seams
  • Star Quilt Block
  • Stitch & Flip Technique
  • Story Fabric
  • Straight Line Quilting
  • String Quilt
  • Sweet Boy
  • Tariffs
  • Teaching
  • Tie-dying
  • Tips & Tricks
  • Tools & Supplies
  • Tutorial
  • V and Co.
  • Video
Info & FAQs
  • Wholesale
  • FAQS
  • About Me
  • Contact Me
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Refund Policy
  • Do not sell my personal information
Sign up for our newsletter

Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more…

My Mission:

"I care about teaching good technique to quilters because it gives them an amazing feeling of accomplishment."
~Cristy Fincher


Country

© 2025 Purple Daisies Quilting. POS and Ecommerce by Shopify

American Express Apple Pay Diners Club Discover Google Pay Mastercard PayPal Shop Pay Visa