Secrets to a Perfect Half Square Triangle

I finished my half square triangle quilt and just love it. The quilting came out just how I envisioned, and it's a great size for my reading chair. Perfectly cozy!

I'm a big fan of half square triangles. Pretty much any fabric works for a half square triangle, you can make them big or small, and it's such a flexible block with so many layout possibilities. I figured the handy half square triangle deserved its very own quilt!

I always make my half square triangles a little big and take the time to trim them down to the size I need. It's a time-consuming extra step, certainly, but it's so pleasant to work with perfectly sized squares. I sure some quilters are able to achieve a perfect half square triangle without trimming, but I'm not one of them! Trimming is a nice task to do away from the sewing machine. I call them "TV-watching tasks." Trimming half square triangles is a perfect activity to do while you're doing something else.

Another secret to perfect half square triangle is to press before you cut the two halves apart. I always give them a quick little press with the iron before cutting them apart and pressing them open, and it seems to help them lay nicely. They, of course, take another trip to the ironing board after I press them open.

Here is the completed half square triangle quilt, featuring fabrics from several of Denyse Schmidt's lines.