Learn to make Half Rectangle Triangles with THIS easy technique!

This week I’m appealing to quilters who want to try something new. If you feel like that’s you, then this week’s blog posts will be refreshing. This week, I’ll be working with Half Rectangle Triangles – an exciting technique! You heard it, not the Half Square Triangles we have all done before… this is a different technique using rectangles. HRTs, as they’re called, are slightly more challenging but very rewarding to learn and use. I promise you, the results are worth it. I’ll show you how to easily piece HRTs and sew them to make a modern-looking table runner to spruce up your spring décor.

To assist in this process, I’ll be using UNIQUE sewing Fast Fade Fabric Markers, Gütermann Thread (50wt for piecing and 12wt cotton for quilting), SCHMETZ Quilting Needles, Fairfield Quilter’s 80/20 Batting, Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray, my Omnigrid rulers, an Olfa Rotary Cutter, a Komfort KUT Rotary Cutting Mat, and Fabric Creations cotton fabric.

Let’s get started…

materials

fabric

• 3 fat quarters of light, medium, dark in one colorway and 3 fat quarters of light, medium, dark in a second colorway
• 1 fat quarter for background
• 2 fat quarters, or 15″ x 35″ piece of fabric, for backing
• quilt batting

 thread

• thread (50wt for piecing and 12wt cotton for quilting)

other

• water soluble or air erasable pens for sewing
• quilting needles (size 75 for piecing and size 90 for quilting recommended)
• quilting ruler for squaring (4″ x 8″ used)
• rotating and self-healing cutting mat (makes it easy for squaring)
• quilt basting spray or basting pins (spray is easiest)
• rotary cutter
• freezer paper or copy paper (freezer paper works best)
• scissors
• pins
• ¼” sewing machine presser foot (very important)
• sewing machine

Cutting

1. Iron all your chosen fabrics.
2. Cut 4 – 3½” x 5″ rectangles from each of the 6 colored fabrics. If using 2 lights, 2 mediums and 2 dark colors, there should be 24 colored rectangles (lt. blue, med. blue, dk blue, lt. red, med. red and dk. red).
3. Cut 24 background rectangles 3½” x 5″ (white as shown).
4. Sew together 2 fat quarters for the backing, or use a 15″ x 35″ piece of fabric.
5. Cut 15″ x 35″ of batting.
6. Cut accurately, 3 to 4 pieces of freezer paper (recommended) or printer paper – 2½” x 4½”.

These awesome sewing notions will make cutting and sewing Half Rectangle Triangle units a breeze. I encourage quilters and sewists to follow along with me this week as I show you how to use UNIQUE sewing Fast Fade Fabric Markers, Gütermann Thread, SCHMETZ Quilting Needles, Fairfield Quilter’s 80/20 Batting, Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray, Omnigrid rulers, Olfa Rotary Cutter, Komfort KUT Rotary Cutting Mat, and Fabric Creations cotton fabric to complete a really pretty table runner.

Join me tomorrow, and let the sewing begin!

This is part 1 of 5 in this series

Go to part 2: 6 easy steps for making perfect Half Rectangle Triangles