Tutorial: Fast and Easy Half Rectangle Triangles

This is my new favorite way to make half rectangle triangles (HRTs). Using the Recs Tool by Darlene Zimmerman and Joy Hoffman makes it so fast and easy. The tool is etched with markings to make several sized blocks. For this tutorial, I'm making the 6 1/2" sized block.

1) Cut a 6 1/2" strip

2) Cut out pieces using the Recs Tool

3) Rotate Recs tool and cut another piece

4) Continue cutting down the strip until you have as many pieces as you need.

5) Choose two pieces with contrasting colors or value

6) Sew together using a 1/4" seam allowance. Use the snipped angle for alignment.

7) Press seams open

8) Trim and your block is done. So easy! : )

Sunday Sail quilt in progress

Make a bunch more you will have a fun HRT project before you know it!

Mood Board: Black and White

I'm looking for black and white fabrics. More white than black please. Something a little bit sketchy, a little bit quirky, throw in some text, a classic dot and a smidgen of unexpected color. Yes! That's it!!

1. Small gingham. Riley Blake
2. Dress me playground, Dear Stella
3. Honeycomb dots, Riley Blake
4. Petite plus, Rashida Coleman Hale
5. Small spots, Robert Kaufman
6. Calendar grid, Ampersand Design Studio
7. Crisscross, Ann Kelle
8. Songbirds, Alyssa Thomas
9. Tiger Stripes, Alexia Marcella Abegg
10. Crosshatch, Carolyn Friedlander
11. Beatrice Weave, Michael Miller
12. Numbers, Ampersand Design Studio

   Fabrics found at Hawthorne Threads

Click here for more mood board inspiration

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Halfway done and oops!

While I was sewing the other day, I had a sinking feeling that something was not quite right. I was halfway through piecing this quilt top when I realized that I sewed it wrong. Well not technically wrong, just not the way I had planned. The first photo (above) is the original plan. The second photo (below) is what I sewed together.

I remembered that I was going to group the "boats" by color and print, which I think looks really cool in mass. Somehow when I got to sewing, I only grouped by color. Still cool, but much more scattered and patchworky and less deliberate feeling. I was fond of the deliberate this time.

I'm going to keep going, but I might have to make two quilts now because the original idea is kind of a nag. Maybe nagging in a good way though.

-A