Triangles-on-a-roll
Oh, so many half-square triangles in no time at all!
One of my friends fell in love with Jo Morton’s mini, published in the February issue of American Patchwork & Quilting (p. 76). We thought it would be fun to follow her lead and organize an exchange of half-square triangles. We decided to use Triangles-on-a-roll, but only had the 1 1/2” finished size on hand. Oh well, our blocks will be slightly larger.
Triangles-on-a-roll are available in many sizes. We decided to use 1-1/2” finished.
Ever used triangle paper? Here are a few tips:
decide how many half-square triangles of one color combination you want to sew in one go, bearing in mind that you want to manipulate the fabric and paper easily on your sewing machine.
every square yields 2 half-square triangles.
layer two fabrics, right sides together, and place your paper on top. If the paper is curly, you can give it a (very) quick press with a dry iron. A couple of pins in the open areas will keep the paper from shifting.
important: shorten your stitch length! On my machine a length of 1 1/2 works well. If you forget to do this, chances are you will rip out your stitches when you remove the paper.
sew on the dotted line only. Try to follow the arrows if possible. Don’t worry if you have to go off the paper when turning around - just keep sewing.
when you’re finished, pressing on the fabric side will smooth things if necessary.
plan your cutting route: the outside lines, top and bottom, first. Then the horizontal and vertical lines. It is important to cut these exactly on the lines. If you mess up on the diagonal lines it’s not such a big deal, since you’re cutting a seam allowance there.
when removing the paper, start from the center and tear outwards. This way, you have less of a chance of disrupting the seams.
press and trim off the dog ears.
now, wasn’t that fun and easy?
Start in the center when tearing off the paper. Perfect job to do in front of the tv or while listening to a book.
Ready to mail. Ziploc baggies keep you organized.
