In my last post, I used Bonnie Hunter’s Essential Triangle Tool to cut half-square triangles from 2½-inch strips. I placed the fabrics right sides together before cutting, then clipped the matched triangles into groups of four.
With all of the cutting finished, I sat down at the sewing machine and started chain piecing.
For the first group, I began sewing at the clipped-off end of each triangle. That left the pointed end as the last part to pass under the needle.
It seemed like the logical way to sew them—but it didn’t work very well.
As the triangles moved under the presser foot, one layer slipped out of position too easily. By the time I reached the pointed end, the edges were no longer aligned.
…even when using a Stiletto to hold them in place.
After pressing, those HSTs weren’t the correct size.
For the next group, I tried something different.
This time, I placed the pointed end under the needle first and sewed toward the clipped-off end.
Then, as I approached the end, I could easily slide the next pointed end into the gap and keep on stitching…
That one small change made a huge difference. The layers stayed together, the edges remained aligned, and the finished HSTs were the correct size.
In fact, I ended up with perfect HSTs every time!
Sometimes a quilting problem doesn’t require a new tool or a complicated solution. Sometimes we simply need to turn the piece around.
My new rule for sewing these triangles is easy to remember:
Point first!
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