Using charm packs to make your half square triangles makes it easy to have a variety of fabrics without building a big stash. You can make several sizes of half square triangles (HSTs) from a charm pack by using the two-at-a-time, four-at-a-time or eight-at-a-time easy stitch and cut methods.
Charm packs are precut five inch (5″) squares of coordinating fabrics. They can be a collection of solid fabrics that have a theme, or highlight a line of fabrics by a particular designer. Charm packs generally have 42 squares that are 5″ square in each pack.
Charm Pack Half Square Triangles Cheatsheet: How many HSTs can be made from a charm pack?
- Two at a time method: you’ll trim to 3-1/2″ and finished square is 3″, making 84 three-inch squares from a charm pack
- Four at a time method: you’ll trim to 2-1/2″ and finished square is 2″, making 168 two-inch squares from a charm pack
- Eight at a time method: you’ll trim to 1-1/2″ and finished square is 1″, making 336 one-inch squares from a charm pack
Charm Pack Half Square Triangles Two at a Time
You can make an easy quilt that looks spectacular by using two coordinating charm packs and turning them into half square triangles two at a time. If you only use charm packs, you don’t need to do a final trim to the squares as they will all be the same size.
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How to Make Charm Pack Half Square Triangles Two at a Time
Learn how to make half square triangles two at a time from a charm pack with this easy step-by-step tutorial.
Half square triangles are a basic building block for many quilt blocks, or can be used alone. They are a great way to use up scraps!
Materials
- Charm pack squares or fabric cut to 5" squares
- Coordinating thread
- Fabric marking pen
Tools
- Sewing machine
- Iron
- Ironing board
- Rotary Cutter
- Quilting rulers
Instructions
- Start by drawing a diagonal line across one of your 5" squares.
- Sew 1/4" on each side of the marked line. This is easy to do if you use a 1/4" foot on your sewing machine. On a Bernina it is foot #37 or #57.
- Using your rotary cutter and ruler, cut on the marked line to make your half square triangles.
- If you are using only half square triangles from charm packs for your quilt, you can press and begin designing your quilt! If you are using these in a quilt with other blocks, you'll want to trim them to a size that is compatible with the other blocks. Example, if you have a quilt that is using 12" blocks, you can trim these to 4-1/2 which will be 4" finished block size, so you can make five sets to make a nine-patch block that has a finished size of 12". (You'll have one HST left over to use in another block.) Here I trimmed them to a finished 4-1/2" size.
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Half Square Triangles Four at a Time from Charm Packs
It’s super easy to make half square triangles (HSTs) four at a time from charm packs. See more about making HSTs 4 at a time. As I mention in the earlier article, 4 at a time is not my preferred method for making HSTs since the outside edges are on the bias.
Start by layering two charm pack 5″ squares together.
Sew all four sides with 1/4″ seam allowances. Cut diagonally in both directions. Here is the first cut:
Setting up for the second cut:
Here are the four half square triangles after cutting:
Just like the HSTs two at a time above, if you are making a quilt with only these blocks you can go ahead without trimming. If you are using these as part of a larger block, you will need to trim them to the sized needed for your block.
At this stage, they measure about 3-1/4″. I trimmed them to 2-1/2″ so they would work as a 2″ finished block size, which works for 4″, 6″, 8″, 10″ and 12″ block patterns.
Here are some layout options for four-at-a-time charm pack half square triangles.
Half Square Triangles Eight at a Time from Charm Packs
Start by marking one of the 5″ charm pack fabrics with diagonal lines.
Sew 1/4″ on each side of each of the diagonal lines. To see more, check out how to make half square triangles eight at a time.
Here is sewing the fourth seam.
Now it is time to cut the half square triangles. Cut along each of the lines, forming 4 pieces.
Then cut through the middle of each, forming eight pieces.
Here are all eight half square triangles cut, ready to press open and then trim.
If you are making a quilt with only these pieces, no need to trim.
If you are using these combined with other blocks, you’ll need to trim them. I trimmed them to 1-/12″ so they will be 1″ finished blocks.
Here are various ways to layout your eight half square triangles made from charm packs.
Check out how to make half square triangles two at a time, how to make half square triangles four at a time, how to make half square triangles eight at time on Create Whimsy.
