I demonstrated some tips for making large blocks Saturday, July 14th, at Fabrics and Friends Quilt Shoppe, Roanoke, Indiana.

Tip #1: To mark the diagonal line on the half-square triangles (HST) use your iron. Fabrics right sides together, carefully fold one corner of your square to the opposite corner, press  the diagonal fold. You will sew a scant 1/4″ seam on both sides of the marked diagonal line.

Tip #2:  Once you have sewn a scant 1/4″ seam on both sides of your marked diagonal line, notch out the corners before cutting on the diagonal line.

Cut on the diagonal marked line. Press seam towards darker fabric.

Cutting out the notch will eliminate the ‘dog ears’ that most quilters trim off later. (Thanks to my friend Bev Gunn for showing this trick to me years ago!) Note: no ‘dog ear’ on above sample, while there still is a ‘dog ear’ on the sample below.

Tip #3: Use the 7/8″ rule to determine the size you will need to cut your HST pieces.  The formula is add 7/8″ to the finished size of the piece. I wanted a 30″ finished block. Each of the 9 pieces for the block would need to measure 10″ when finished.  10″ (finished size) + 7/8″ = 10 7/8″. Two 10 7/8″ pieces matched with two 10 7/8″ background pieces will yield the four HST pieces I needed for the blocks shown.

(And don’t forget to add 1/2″ to the finished size of the other pieces you will need to cut for your blocks.)