The thought of paper piecing causes some quilters to break out into a cold sweat. Trust me, though. Paper piecing half square triangles is not at all like making complex stars or picture blocks. It is simple and straightforward.
Strip piecing half square triangle units is not intuitive, but great if you have strips of fabric to use up. In this method, you can use fabric that would be too narrow to use with most of the other methods.
This method of making half square triangle units is the most obvious – cut two triangles and then sew them together on the diagonal. To non-quilters, it might seem like the only way. It was probably the first method tried in quilting history.
Some quilt designs require a LOT of half-square triangle units. In that situation, it can be nice to make a bunch at a time. This method lets you make four at a time. This might seem like a good idea, but it is only useful in certain situations.
This method of making half square triangle units has been around for a long time. It is very popular, and for good reason. It is pretty simple and eliminates the waste that occurs when doing one unit at a time.
A half-square triangle, or HST, is a common quilting term for a square made up of two triangles joined together on the diagonal. It is one of the most common units of a quilt block, probably second only to a plain square. They are used in many quilt blocks, like the shoo fly or the…