The greatest way to make half-square triangles!

One Star Singles sheet of paper plus 2 squares of fabric equals eight half-square triangles. These are so easy to sew and cut apart. Making half-square triangles this way is like painting by the numbers. The paper sheets are designed so that there is a starting point for sewing and then you sew by following the arrows printed on the paper.

Using squares cut of fabric makes handling, sewing and turning easy. You will be able to sew the half-square triangles and cut apart in a matter of minutes. The paper is the weight used for foundation paper piecing. You do not need to use a very short stitch length to tear the paper away nor will you need to pick out little bits of paper. Sew on the dotted line and cut on the solid. Press the squares open and towards the dark colored fabric.

The sheets come in many sizes from 1 inch finished to 3 inches finished in 1/2 inch increments. The manufacturer tells you what size to cut the squares. They do suggest that you cut your squares 1/4 inch – 1/2 inch larger than the square size to insure blocks come out the right size. I have never done this and never have had a problem. You may want to experiment yourself.

I have tried all the other products for making half-square triangles. I think these are the best. You can ask the local quilt shop to order them for you. I have gotten mine from two online sources, Brewer Quilting and Sewing Supplies and Bonnie Blue Quilts. Order some today.

I do not make all these great treats at any other time of the year and it’s a perfect holiday indulgence!
Merry Christmas.

Great holiday gifts, birthday presents, baby shower items and items for bakers and quilters alike.

Here’s a sneak peek – or go to For Sale! for a more in-depth description.

Merry Christmas.

Border rolls are adhesive edged patterns for continuous machine quilting of borders. This product is an innovative way to machine quilt your borders or sashings on your quilt. They work for both beginners as well as advanced machine quilters. The adhesive does not stain your quilt and holds well. The borders come in small sizes, 1 inch to 5 inches. The rolls contain 26 feet of pattern, corner pattern and instructions.

The company, Quilting Made Easy, also has Blocks Made Ease and Stipples Made Easy that are available. The company has level of difficulty attached to each pattern. The instructions are good and they have a tutorial you can watch on their website.

I recommend Borders Made Easy. You might like to give a roll a try. Maybe even a roll for Christmas?

It’s the same with this new way to make pinwheel quilts with a fun new tool.

I saw this fun and fast little quilt at my favorite quilt store, Primitive Gatherings. The project fascinated me with the unique construction technique.

The little quilt was done using precut 3 1/2 inch charm squares, but you can cut your own from the mountain of scraps we all have. This little quilt is 12 inches by 13 inches and is a great little wallhanging or cute doll quilt for that favorite daughter or granddaughter.

Thanks Carol Charles for the pattern.

This fun tool was developed by CS Designs in Superior Wisconsin. The tool comes in 2 sizes, 5 and 10 inches. Country Schoolhouse Quilt Store is where they can be purchased.

The larger size works great for the layer cakes that you find in the quilt shops and the smaller size is perfect for the charm squares. You may see these in the quilt shops and wonder what to do with them…this a great use and it produces dramatic looking pinwheel quilts, wallhangings, table toppers or table runners.

The 3 1/2 inch size tool can be purchased from Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop. Country Schoolhouse Quilt Shop gave them permission to make the smaller size tool.

If you want inspiration, Marsha Bergren, of Country Schoolhouse Quilt Shop has written several books to give you great ideas for the use of the tools.

Let’s Twist introduced the tool and Let’s Twist…Again was written to help you build upon the skills learned from the first book.

Pick yourself a good mix of light and dark charm squares or layer cakes and select the size tool you wish to work with and just start twisting the day away!

Thought I might share with you my favorite Christmas Candy. I am a peppermint lover and when you combine it with white and semi sweet chocolate, yummy! All the recipes for the holiday season will be posted under my Holiday Recipe page. Enjoy.

Peppermint Bark

Ingredients

6 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate, chopped coarsely
2 tsp. Vegetable Oil
6 oz. White Chocolate
1/2 c. Peppermint Candy Canes, crushed

Directions

Line bottom of 9 inch square pan with non-stick aluminum foil, make sure there are no wrinkles

Melt Semi Sweet Chocolate and 1 tsp. of Oil in double boiler until melted

Pour melted Chocolate mixture into square pan tilting it around to make sure the entire pan is covered

Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until set

Melt White Chocolate and 1 tsp. Oil in double boiler until melted

Pour White Chocolate in same fashion as Semi Sweet Chocolate making sure to cover entire pan

Sprinkle crushed Candy Canes over White Chocolate

Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until hard.

Remove Peppermint Bark from pan and break into small irregular pieces

Store in airtight container

This makes a great gift to share with friends or as a hostess gift.

The Wonder Clips are a great alternative to pins and are very strong so they hold the binding nice and tight. The clips are curved on the top and flat on the bottom. You can easily feed the binding past the pressed foot on the sewing machine if you sew the binding on by machine. Clover provides them in boxes of ten and fifty.

Christmas is coming, why not consider the fifty piece box and share with your fellow quilters. A ten piece box would make a great Secret Santa gift or just a treat for you. You could also put them on that Christmas Wish List you are making for your Hubby or significant other.

I highly recommend them!

Don’t forget to check out our new prices on Etsy for my holiday quilts- no shipping cost!!

So what are my essential, often used rulers then?

My collection includes a basic set of rulers that I use regularly – a long ruler and square rulers.

A 6 ½” x 241/2” long ruler is used for cutting long strips of fabric. I love this ruler because you can cut across the folded length of fabric.  The 6 ½” width is enough to give me lots of options for most strip widths that I might need to cut.

I use it so much that the markings are starting to fade in places but I love this ruler.

My square rulers are essential to not only sub-cutting the strips of fabric that I cut width the 6 ½” x 24 ½” width ruler.

My favorite square rulers are my 6 ½”, 9 ½”, 12 ½” .  I like these because they are the sizes of the most often used quilt blocks.  These are also a must for squaring up each of blocks before including it in your quilt top or trimming units to size when needed. I have other rulers that I do not use often but they are available to me when I need them.

Most of my rulers are *Creative Grid.

I like this company because all of their rulers add the extra ½” for that seam allowance.  Some companies do not add that to their rulers.  But I do at times still use my Omnigrid ruler because sometimes when cutting very dark fabrics the yellow markings show up better.

When I put my list together for beginning quilting classes I always suggest to my students two basic rulers:
1. 12 ½” square ruler
2. 6 ½” x 24 ½’ ruler

These rulers allow you to do anything you need to do as a new quilter without breaking the bank.  My suggestion to my students is to put other rulers or other quilting equipment on your “wish list”.  Most quilt stores have wish list options, so that your loved ones know exactly what you want. Plus, if you use Amazon, they too have wish list functions.

My own recent purchase was a 24 ½” square ruler by Quilter’s Rule. I have wanted this tool for sometime but I could not find a manufacturer who had them yet.  How wonderful to find that a vendor at the show had them.  Guess my husband will find out he just bought me a belated mother’s day present!

(even the cat thinks it’s cool!)

A key tip: Remember to be consistent with your ruler manufacturer on any specific project as measurement markings can vary between manufacturers.

What are your favorite rulers?

*I am not endorsing or am paid by Creative Grid.