Saturday, July 2, 2011

Love those Half Square Triangles

OK, so I've been obsessively looking through Flickr and many, many blogs finding all the wonderful HST pillows and quilts people were working on. I don't know what it is about them that I like so much, maybe it's how many layout options there are and how different each quilt can look depending on which direction you put the triangles. I dove right in and I am currently working on this quilt


I just can't move much farther because my rotary cutter blades are too dull for all the necessary trimming and new ones are still somewhere in FedEx delivery truck, hopefully coming my way soon.

What I also found was that although I LOVE the way these quilts look, I absolutely HATE trimming those squares to be the exact size. I thought I would just somehow finish this quilt and my love affair with Half Square Triangles would have to be over. Very sad!!!

But then I started seeing fabric Go! cutters all over the web and I knew this was the answer to my problem. A machine that cuts fabric quickly, precisely, no rotary cutters, no trimming. As luck would have it, my birthday is coming up soon, so I asked my husband to get it for my birthday. And he did. How great is that? Here it is, sitting on my kitchen table.


Of course I had to try it out right away. I took out my fabric and in just a few minutes I had enough triangles to make a pillow cover to match the quilt I'm working on.

HST pillow front

HST pillow back
I did some simple zig - zag quilting and I used Rachel 's tutorial for invisible zipper. She gave great instructions and lots of pictures to help along. Even though my zipper isn't as "invisible" as it could be, I still am very happy with how this pillow turned out. And thanks to my new Go! cutter I see lots of HST projects in my future.

Oh, and  so I don't forget, I'm in no way, shape, or form associated with Accuquilt (makers of Go! cutters). I just love how easy to use and convenient it is, so I wanted to share it with you.

Have a wonderful long weekend.

Svetlana
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8 comments:

  1. It's adorable Svetlana!!! How big did you cut your squares? I'm loving all of the chevron projects out there lately!!! :)

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  2. What a wonderful husband you have! Happy birthday in advance! I really like how you put some HSTs on the back of the pillow! Very nice!

    LaDonna

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  3. Beautiful quilt and pillow. I too hate trimming HST.

    Have you ever tried a rotary sharpener? It makes my blades last at least 4 times longer - although, after 5 years it isn't working as well as it use to. I think I need a new one.

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Darts-crafts&field-keywords=rotary+blade+sharpener&x=0&y=0

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  4. Loved visiting your blog Svetlana - your quilt is gorgeous in those fresh colours and your FQAL blocks are turning out beautifully too.

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  5. I absolutely love your projects and especially choice of fabrics. Can you tell me the name/designer of the fabrics with the spots in blue/green and also in pink?

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  6. Ladies, thank you so much for your wonderful comments and advice. I would have never thought of using rotary cutter sharpener, what a great idea, thanks Leila.
    As for the fabric with blue and green spots, that' s Denyse Schmidt fabric from her newest collection available at JoAnn's. I hope that helps.

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  8. This is beautiful! Love the pillow. I'm going to make a few zig zag pillows in fall and winter colors to match my holiday decor. What size HST did you use in your pillows? I'm thinking of using a few different pillow sizes so I'll have to readjust my math for each one. bleh.

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