Tutorial – scrappy `herringbone` HST quilt … Here`s a mini tutorial for

Tutorial – scrappy ‘herringbone’ HST quilt … Here’s a mini tutorial for my latest scrappy ‘herringbone’ quilt made from the ‘leftovers’ of my second Simply Retro challenge quilt. Half Square Triangles Step 1 … Construct your HST (half square triangles). Cut patterned and plain fabric into 5 7/8 inch strips, and then trim into 5 7/8 square inches. I have used Mormor fabric by Lotta Jansdotter, and white quilters’ homespun. In my scrappy quilt there are 13 rows; each row consists of 14 blocks, making a total of 182 HST blocks. I cut 91 white squares and 91 patterned squares. Step 2 … Place one white square on top of one patterned square, right sides together. Draw a pencil line diagonally on the white square, from corner to corner. Pin either side of the drawn line. Do this with all the squares. Step 3 … Sew/ 1/4 inch from the drawn line on each side of the pencil line, then cut along the pencil line. You will now have two HSTs. Finger press and then press the HSTs, pressing the seam towards the patterned side of the square. Trim the corners off each square. Quilt design Step 4 … Now comes the fun part. I opened up an image of a ‘herringbone’ quilt on my laptop, and put my laptop where I could easily see it. Then it was just a matter of laying out the quilt top (I laid mine out on the floor), checking often to make sure the HSTs were ‘running’ the right way, using the image of the quilt on my laptop as a guide. Step 5 … When you have a design laid out, don’t forget to step back from the quilt top and check your colour placement and overall ‘feel’ of the quilt. Constructing the quilt top Step 6 … Carefully place each row into piles and number each row. I have pinned a number on the first block of each row, so that I don’t mix up the order. Step 7 … Pin each row. Make sure you check the row when you have finished pinning it (before you sew the blocks together) to make sure you haven’t accidentally turned any of the blocks. Step 8 … Sew the rows of blocks together. I chain-­‐piece six rows together at the same time. Step 9 … Lay the rows on top of each other in order, then carefully press them. If you press them in order, you can make sure that you press the seams of the blocks alternately. For example, row 1 seams are pressed to the left, row 2 seams are pressed to the right, row 3 seams are pressed to the left. Step 10 … Pin the rows together in order. This is where I use my Clover fork pins, pinning each side of the seams. It makes for very neat and easy sewing. Sew the rows together. Step 11 … Carefully press these seams, then press the finished quilt top. Now you are ready to begin the next part of the journey, the quilting process.