IBQUILTIN

Welcome to the board from Ca. You will find lots of help and fun here

quiltmama22

It will be only slivers of waste. Definitely worth cutting the initial squares at 3" rather than 2 7/8".

MargeD

I've been quilting for a lot of years, however, the only way I can consistently wind up with a 2.5" square is to cut the 2 squares 3", draw the diagonal line, stitch 1/4" on either side, press, then I trim down to size. It requires an extra step, however, my blocks need very little squaring up and I think I make better quilts this way.

solstice3

I thought you added 7/8 to that you want the finished size to be but I could be wrong

duckydo

Shayarene, welcome to quilting, but be warned, it is addictive and you could suffer from quilt pox, no cure known. LOL. Just kidding. On the half square triangle there are lots of ways to do a short cut. If you go to Missouri Star Quilt Co, Ginny has some neat ways to do half square triangles. You could also do a google search and probably find a video on making them on u tube.. Best of luck to you.

duckydo

solstice3 I am pretty sure you are right

shayarene

Thank you so much everyone, I am going with the 3" As a beginner, I would rather trim than mess them all up. LOL
I had a great day today, I cut strips with my new rotary cutter and mat It went really slow for me because I was so nervous, I just pray I have them all straight. LOL I cut out 600 little 2.5" squares and tomorrow I have another 600 to cut out and then another 600 of the 3" size, then I am excited to say, I am ready to start sewing them all together. I can't wait to see my first block I love this board, everyone is so helpful and knowledgeable. Thank you all so much Rachel

BettyGee

I am with the majority and would go for the 3" and trim your HST, if they aren't right then your whole project will be off. I just finished an inverted star and if I hadn't gone with the extra I would have never gotten all those little HSTs to fit together so nicely. This board has so many members with so much knowledge about quilting you will be hard pressed to find a finer source of information.

sherryl1

Just use Thangles or the other papers for piecing the 1/2 square triangles.They are available at most quilt stores.Easy peezy.