ghostrider

It's usually because the ruler is pivoting on the thread in the seam because it's higher than the surrounding fabric. I put a folded piece of paper or cardstock underneath the triangle and butt it up to the thread line. Seems to work for me.

bigsister63

this is the way I make HST. I cut then apart with sissors on the marked line and then at the same time I cut off the dogears. also you can chain as you sew by simply aliigning up the marked line on at the presserfoot.

another way is to mark each 1/4" line on the diaginal and then sew on that line. there is a ruler for this.

Remember the basic rule or making HST is to take your finished block size and add 7/8" when cutting the squares.

Onebyone

A dab of glue stick works wonders to hold fabric where you want it when cutting. Put a dab on the ruler to hold the fabric while cutting. HSTs have a mind of their own no matter which method you use.

citruscountyquilter

I must be the exception to the rule because I like making half square triangles. I make my fabric squares 1" larger than I want my finished square to be and draw a line corner to corner and sew 1/4" from either side of the line. It doesn't make any difference when you cut them apart if you are a little off because they are already stitched. You can even be a little off on your sewing too because you're going to trim the block.

I have two methods of squaring up the block depending which ruler I find first. Eleanor Burns has a ruler for squaring up HST that you don't press the square open but trim first. You put the corresponding size line on the stitching line and cut the two raw edge sides to the right size and then press open. The other method is to press the square open and then take a square ruler and put the diagonal line on the ruler along the seam line and trim two sides. Flip the square around, put the just trimmed sides on the right measurement of the ruler again with the diagonal line along the seam line and trim the remaining two sides. Either method gives me perfect HST with no bias edges. My avatar is almost all HST.

As far as chain piecing that can be done too but you need to overlap the points of the squares as you are feeding them into the machine. If you line up the lines you have just drawn as you are feeding the next square into the machine you'll be in the right position to sew. There will be some gap between the two stitching points because your presser foot will dictate how far you can overlap the two squares. As you become more proficient with it you will know when to feed the next square in and greatly reduce the thread gap between the two. It really is quite a bit before the end of the stitching of your preceeding square and there is quite a bit of overlap between the two squares. I chain piece my HST this way.

Valerie Ann

I love to make HSTs. However, I use paper. It is fast, super easy, and quite forgiving when you initially sew them. I started by using Thangles (okay, but not great), moved on to using Laundry Basket papers where I can make 24 at a time, to now buying my own paper (99 cents at the dollar store) and using a computer program to get the size I want. I made a quilt and it needed 1240 more and they were such a joy to make!

Havplenty

I like making HST's also and have never ever used starch to do so nor had many problems with them.

But this paper thing you mentioned is something new to me. Can you supply some pics, additional information or links so I can see what you are talking about?

ube quilting

I do this for all my rotary cuts, just do a little cut at the top first before making the full cut. It's a release cut and I never have the curved end any more. Try it and I hope it helps you.
peace

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...p-t136061.html

Geri B

...all of the above and also when cutting make sure the pressure of your fingertips(slightly bent and spread out like legs of a spider) are moving up parallel to the rotary as you cut...cut, stop, creep up fingers, keeping rotary blade in fabric,cut til blade just passes fingertips, then stop.....etc.. Also little finger of hand holding ruler should be off ruler, up against edge of ruler holding it in place....sounds complicated but really becomes second nature after awhile.

ladydukes

The most perfect HST I've made is by using Triangulation software. It has every imaginable size, and they all come out perfect.

SimpsonFrances

I like to make my HSTs slightly larger than I need and cut them down to size. I also ran across a product that isn't talked about as much called Stitching Lines. This product works wonderfully for me. I also use starch. Stitching Lines is simple a strip of paper that has the diagonal line and the sew lines marked. You take your squares right sides together and line up the strip on the diagonals then stitch on the sewing lines. The paper then tears away easily leaving your squares with the two sewing lines sewn. You then cut the square in half diagonally. Your cut could be a little off but it doesn't matter because the sewing lines are straight. Press the HST open and square it down. This works better for me than any other product because you can work just with the squares and don't have to have two larger pieces of fabric to start with. I make many HSTs but I don't always have larger pieces of fabric to start with (ie fat quarter). Stitching Lines can be ordered from their web site. The site is www.marinandcolusa.com. I have seen them in quilt shops but not very often. If you contact them, they may send you a sample free.