Part 2 of 4 in our Sherbet Sparkle series.
Sew four lines, cut, and a single square turns into eight matching half square triangles. Here's the whole method.
Start with the printed panel with its Magic 8 grid: an X through each square, dotted lines to sew and solid lines to cut.
If you've made half square triangles the usual way, you know the routine. Cut two squares. Mark a diagonal. Sew either side. Cut apart. Press. That gets you two triangles, and if a quilt needs sixty of them, you do that thirty times.
Your squares should be cut, marked and pinned from Part 1. If you're working DIY, that's your white square laid on a colored square, right sides together, pencil lines facing up.
Step 3: Sew the dotted lines
Kit step: Sew directly on the dotted lines, all the way across, on both sides of the X. A quarter inch seam is what the dotted lines represent.
DIY step: using a quarter-inch foot, sew 0.25" from each diagonal line on both sides. So you'll be sewing across your pinned squares four times.
That's the only sewing this step requires. Four passes, straight lines.
Step 4: Cut on the solid lines
Now the cutting. Line your ruler up on each solid line and cut with a rotary cutter.
Cut both diagonals of the X, then cut the square in half vertically and horizontally. Six cuts total. Work on a mat and take the cuts in order so the pieces stay put.
Step 5: Open & press
Here's the payoff. Every piece you just cut is a half square triangle, already sewn.
Each cut piece opens into a finished half square triangle, half white and half pastel. Press each triangle open, seam to one side or open, whichever you prefer.
Press rather than iron. Lift and set the iron down instead of dragging it, and the bias edges won't stretch out of shape. Bias edges are the one place this block can go wrong, and pressing carefully is the whole fix.
Next up, in Part 3, the triangles get arranged into stars.
See the method in another quilt
The same Magic 8 technique builds the star blocks in our Midnight Stars kit, on a dark navy ground rather than white. If you'd like to see it applied start to finish on a different quilt, read Nine Stars, One Night Sky.
The full series
- Part 1: Materials list & Prep
- Part 2: Sewing: Magic 8 HST hack
- Part 3: Arranging the blocks
- Part 4: Quilting & Binding
Common questions
Why are my half square triangles coming out wonky?
Usually it's the bias edges stretching. Every cut in this method leaves a diagonal edge, and diagonal edges stretch. Press by lifting and setting the iron down rather than sliding it, and handle the triangles gently until they're sewn into blocks.
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