I have cut all the squares and matched up the fabrics. I tried to draw a diagonal line across the giant 21 inch square, but my ruler was not long enough to reach from corner to corner, so after fumbling around trying to draw a line with a too-short ruler, I decided to iron the square in half diagonally and use that line. Whew! What an easier way of doing it! I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with that little trick! *Hold on a sec while I pat myself on the back!* For a wider variety of finished HSTs, I decided to cut a lot of the squares in half in order to mix up the fabrics a bit. But since I would be sewing on bias cut edge, I left one square whole and then laid two different cut squares on top to prevent stretching during stitching.

Then it was time for sewing! That didn’t take long as there are only 16 HSTs in the quilt top. Once that was done, it was time for cutting and ironing.

The next step will be arranging on the design wall! Yay!

Happy Quilting! -Alison

My first start of 2019 is a quilt of large half-square triangles using Loft 1800 fabric by Erin Michael for Moda.  I bought one yard of each of these fabrics years ago and, sadly, it is now out of production so I am unable to order more.  I would like to have had some yardage of the small purple print for the backing, but I am going to make do with my scraps and have a super-scrappy pieced backing!  A first for me!  
I also picked up a couple coordinating pinks by Andover and Windham Fabrics at my LQS. 

The inspiration for my quilt came from a gorgeous quilt I came across on Pinterest —  Anna Graham’s Vast Quilt who, in her blog post, pays tribute to pattern-creator Jeni Baker and her book Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle. Although my fabric could not be more different than Anna’s, I loved her quilting and will probably do the same for my quilt.

I am cutting my initial squares 21 inches to make the most of my fabric and will trim the finished HSTs down to 20 inches or so. My plan for the quilt layout is 4 HSTs by 4 HSTs for a total of 16, which, if my math and piecing are accurate, should make my finished quilt around 79 inches by 79 inches.

Happy Quilting! – Alison