Half Square Triangles

[Barbara B.]

I do not know whether or not anyone has had this problem, but when I copied and finished the January section, it measured exactly right. Then, I copied the 1/2 ST for month 2 and set to sewing them. When completed, the sections were a very tiny bit shorter than they should have been. I checked my measurements again. Printed again and sewed one section - same result. Slightly smaller than it should have been even though I measured beforehand and the squares were exactly 1 inch. So I enlarged the pattern by 1% (which was bigger than the original pattern), sewed the same section AGAIN, and it was almost exactly right. - not quite, but almost. Can anyone tell me what is happening? The month one copies were perfect. If I have this problem every month with the paper piecing, and having to reduce and reduce, I'll be out of fabric long before I get very much done.

[Annis C.]

Did you use the same foundation paper for both? Some paper shrinks when pressed with a hot iron. I've had that happen with different vellum papers. I found Office Depot vellum to work the best for paper piecing.

[Annis C.]

Thank you. I did not! And I never thought about it. Daaaaaa!

[Annis C.]

OK! I wrote early last month. Now, I need some suggestions and/or help. I am now half way through my 3rd (yes,, third) redue of the HST from month 2. I have printed the patterns, measured them to be sure they are exactly the proper length, but when I get done, they are shorter than they should be. I have changed paper, turned off the steam on the iron, remeasured to be sure everything is right. But now I'm half way through the third attempt at one of the HST rows (four units), and already my pattern is measuring 1/16 shorter on each section. By the time I'm done, it will be at least 1/8 to short each; multiply that by four sections, I no longer have the correct length. What is happening? I'm about to give up on this BOM. I've been so excited about this beautiful quilt, but the frustration level is just about to spill over!!! H E L P !

[Renata L.]

OK! I wrote early last month. Now, I need some suggestions and/or help. I am now half way through my 3rd (yes,, third) redue of the HST from month 2. I have printed the patterns, measured them to be sure they are exactly the proper length, but when I get done, they are shorter than they should be. I have changed paper, turned off the steam on the iron, remeasured to be sure everything is right. But now I'm half way through the third attempt at one of the HST rows (four units), and already my pattern is measuring 1/16 shorter on each section. By the time I'm done, it will be at least 1/8 to short each; multiply that by four sections, I no longer have the correct length. What is happening? I'm about to give up on this BOM. I've been so excited about this beautiful quilt, but the frustration level is just about to spill over!!! H E L P !

It's really hard to guess what you might be doing that would cause your pattern to shorten. I have to assume you are doing the paper-piecing correctly. Your finished HST should measure one inch. Since you checked the paper and turned off the steam, there are only two things that you could still tweak, if you are not already doing it:

First, make sure your thread is at least a 50 weight thread or thinner--sometimes that eats up fabric. I use Aurifil 50 wt thread; I know others who use even thinner thread, like 60 weight (for example, Superior Bottom Line), and see if that helps.

Secondly, and more importantly, are you pressing your seams right after you've made the seam or are you just finger pressing? I found that taking the time to actually press each seam with a hot iron every time you sew a seam when paper-piecing adds to accuracy. As soon as I sew the seam, I take it to the iron, press down on the unit to the count of "three", then press the seam open to one side. Some people can finger press effectively, but if your having a problem with size of the unit, that might be something to try.

I hope someone else will pipe up with advice for you if my suggestions don't help. The BOM is too beautiful to give up. Hang in there! If there's a teeny bit of a discrepancy after you improve the size of your unit, you can make it up with the floater.

[Renata L.]

Thank you, thank you. It was the thread!!!!

[Barbara B.]

Great tips, Renata. I was also going to suggest finer thread. Fat thread=thick seams and loss of fabric. Glad you figured it out.

[Renata L.]

Thank you, thank you. It was the thread!!!!

So glad it worked out for you! :cheer:

[Marion D.]

thicker fabric can affect the seams, also. I cut my squares to 1 inch larger than the finished size, then, when finished, cut them to size.

[Debbie C.]

Just how wide are the half-square triangle strips in Month 2? I ask because the printing software has a default of "Shrink oversized pages", which resulted in a month 1 center block about 2 inches smaller than the first sentence of month 2 instructions requires. Yikes! (must be less trusting in the future.) Reprinting at 100% is not consistent. So how wide should the strip be? So I have a goal?
Suggestion for TQS-Place a 1" scale square in the footer of each page as some other paper-pieced BOMs have (Jinny Beyer).

[Debbie C.]

I read some other threads that say the half-square triangles should finish 1 inch.

[Barbara B.]

On page 5 of Month 2 instructions it says the half square triangles are 1" finished. Your paper pattern should be precisely that size. Watch those settings when you print.

[Rebecca F.]

Just how wide are the half-square triangle strips in Month 2?

I am adding a bit to BBQuiltmaker's response because you asked about strip width and she answered with finished size.

The thin blue lines on your Month 2 printout represent the finished size of your HSTs which is 1" this month. When you measure the distance between these lines, you should get one inch. (See the green line in the diagram below). The red line in the diagram measures from one dashed line to the opposing dashed line. That measurement should be 1.5" inches because you are adding a 1/4" seam allowance to both sides of the 1" finished HST.

Becky

[Rebecca F.]

Just how wide are the half-square triangle strips in Month 2?

I am adding a bit to BBquiltmaker's response because you asked about strip width and she shared the finished size of the HSTs.

The printed pages for this BOM show finished sizes using thin blue lines. As Barbara indicated, Month 2 HSTs should finish at 1". Your pages should print so the thin blue lines are 1 inch apart as indicated by the green line in the diagram. When cut and trimmed, the strips will be one-half an inch wider as you add 1/4" seam allowance to both sides. In the diagram, the red line shows the measurement from one dashed line to the opposing dashed line is 1.5" which is exactly what you should expect.

I hope this helps!

Becky