Tuesday 10 February 2015

Half Square Triangle (HST) Scrappy Quilt

Scrap Triangle Quilt
Half Square Triangle Scrappy Quilt
You may recognise this quilt.  I have been admiring it here and here.  I decided it was time to have one of my own.  It is a Katherine Guerrier design from one of my favourite books, 'Scrap Quilt Sensation' .
Scrappy Triangle Quilt
Scrappy Triangle Quilt

I have had a pile of random charm squares which were given to me in my stash for some time.  They are not fabrics I particularly like, but it was hard to turn down the offer of free fabric at the time. I don't think things have changed. This is the sort of quilt you can hide these ugly fabrics in quite easily.  Just to make it interesting I also added some of my favourite fabrics too.  The need to get as much variety as possible allowed plenty of petting and stroking of the fabrics in my stash. I had many happy hours in my sewing room. 
Double pinning quilt seams
Double pinning quilt seams

I think there are about 896 3" half square triangles in this quilt.  It is a surprisingly simple quilt to make, it is just the sheer quantity of square half square triangle blocks which need cutting, stitching and trimming which take up the time.  The finished size is about 84" x 96". Any half square triangle pattern really relies on accurate seam joins and I took time from the very beginning to double pin every seam to keep the seams in place as they went through the sewing machine. On the front (which is where it matters) they look as if they have behaved very well, but on the back there are a few which tried to go against the flow.

Half Square Triangle Scrap Quilt
Half Square Triangle Scrap Quilt
Comparing it to the same quilts I have seen already, it is clear that the look of the quilt will depend on the DNA of your personal stash.  I struggled for large scale prints for contrast, and I struggled for murky dull fabrics to stand out against the brights, but I wasn't about to go shopping for this project.  The aim was too get rid of some scraps, but in the process I seem to have created a new set of scraps! He ho ...


Joining up with Scraptastic Tuesday! and the scrap fans at Crazy Mom Quilts, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

21 comments:

  1. Creating new scraps by getting rid of others.... Story of my quilter's life! 😜
    Really impressed by how all the fabric play so nicely together!
    Esther

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  2. I love your quilt! I tend to think that the "not so pretty" fabrics allow the pretties to shine so both are needed.

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  3. Makes my fingers itch, I love it!

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  4. Your HST scrappy quilt looks fantastic, Frances! How long did it take you from start to finish? Did you work on it straight through, or on and off between other projects? I am thinking that instead of using leaders and enders when I am chain piecing, if I had a bin of HSTs next to my machine I could work them into chain piecing for other projects.

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  5. Great quilt. I think your scraps have worked wonderfully, it almost has a random 3d look about it when laid out.

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  6. Fantastic!!! I'm in the same boat - making a scrappy quilt leaves you with more scraps than when you started!!

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  7. What a fabulous quilt! Love the bright scrappy look of it.:)

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  8. Amazing. Can't imagine all that trimming! Great result..

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  9. I love the way all the colors just pop.

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  10. What a happy scrappy quilt! I'm in love.

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  11. wow! Do you piece them into blocks or strips when finally putting them all together? (Does that make sense?) Beautiful final project. I can't find any uglies. :)

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  12. This quilt is truly beautiful. I guess it's true that the so so fabrics let the beautiful fabrics shine.

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  13. Is seems impossible not to make more scraps! Love the quilt but not sure I have the patience for all those HSTs! Well done. Thanks for joining us at #scraptastictuesday

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  14. OMG. This quilt is awesome and inspiring. I think my bucket list just got a little longer...!!

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  15. Beautiful! I always love a good hst quilt, but the extra pieced triangles added here and there really make it pop! Great job!

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  16. Beautiful. You are so right that the fabric in your stash determines the look of the quilt. How fun to make it completely from your stash, too.

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  17. That is a seriously impressive amount of HSTs! I love the little 4-patches mixed in with the bigger ones.

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  18. It is gorgeous, just gorgeous!!!!!

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  19. Wow love the bright colors. It looks amazing!

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  20. Amazing! I love this quilt!

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