Ask Kelli: The Christmas Quilt

A Post from Kelli:

Remember the Christmas Star quilt I made awhile back??  If you missed the free pattern for this quilt you can find it here.

We have recently gotten a few questions about it so I thought I would answer them:

Scarlet commented:  Great quilt. What is the fabric requirement for this (i.e. how much of each color)?

When I made this quilt, I just raided my 2.5″ strip bucket (and mom’s) and made the quilt using various reds, greens, and neutrals in 2.5″ strips.  I also used my easy angle ruler to make the half square triangles from 2.5″ strips.  Yardage may vary if you use the squares-and-cutting-on-the-diagonal method of half square triangles.  I used about 2.75 yards of red, 4.75 yards of neutrals, and 2.25 yards of green.  You will need 3/4 yard of fabric for the binding and 6 yards of backing fabric.

Carol commented:  Kelli, your quilt is stunning! I am a bit confused about the half square triangles. Wouldn’t they need to be 2.75″ rather than 2.5″, to create a 2.5″ finished square, that would equal the 2.5″ square? That 2.75″ would allow for the 1/4″ seam to join both half square triangles, which then leaves a 2.5″ square.

Half square triangles can be made so many different ways.  We typically use a special ruler to make ours called an Easy Angle Ruler.  The thing we love about it is that is we want the finished block to be 2 1/2″ we just grab a bucket of 2 1/2″ scraps and work with those.  If you don’t have one, we highly recommend getting one. There is an Amazon link for the Wrights 3-Inch to 10-1/2-Inch Easy Angle II.  It’s what we use.  If you don’t know how to use the ruler, here is a tutorial from our site that will show you how.

Half square triangles can also be made by cutting squares and drawing the line on the diagonal, sewing along each side and cutting in between.  If you want to use this method, then you need to cut your square at 2 7/8″.  Both ways work..we just prefer the other method.

You will have to decide what method works best for you.

If you ever have questions about a project Mom or I have going on, a product we tried, or just a general question, please let us know and we’ll be more than happy to answer.  You can email us at rogjok@iowatelecom.net.