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- Hi, I'm Deanna Springer.
Thank you for joining us for The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show
virtual edition.
And thank you for joining me today
for "No Hassle Triangles in Quilts: The Nancy Zieman Way."
Although we're not together in person,
I'm imagining you're right here with me
on the set of Stitch It! Sisters ,
and I'm excited to share time-saving quilting tips
by Nancy Zieman, my longtime friend,
along with our brand new No-Hassle Triangles Ruler.
Today, I'm showing how to make our new Red Elegance quilt.
This striking quilt is made
from half square triangle quilt blocks,
including Windmill, Flying Geese,
Eight-Point Star, and simple variations of Bow Ties
along with solid square quilt blocks.
The half square quilt blocks are made
the Nancy Zieman way, without ever cutting a triangle.
When the blocks are combined with sashing and borders,
the result is an elegant sampler quilt.
We'll begin the block-making process
by creating the center Eight-Pointed Star design.
But first we need to gather our fabrics,
all of our supplies,
and do some steaming and pressing at the ironing board.
A classic time-saving tip by my friend Nancy,
head to the ironing board
and steam and press all the fabrics,
and treat each piece of fabric with starch or Starch Savvy
to prepare all the fabrics for the block-making steps.
We'll be making each of the block elements
from half square triangles today,
and we'll be cutting half square triangles
from crosswise fabric strips.
We'll be cutting our crosswise fabric strips
with our new No-Hassle Triangles Ruler.
The ruler, it is an 8 inch by 24 inch
rotary cutting ruler,
and it has all the dimensions on it listed
for making quilt blocks from 2 1/2 to 6 1/2 inches.
After cutting crosswise fabric strips,
we'll subcut the fabric strips into blocks.
This ruler makes solid quilt blocks,
half square quilt blocks,
and quarter square quilt blocks,
all by following the color-coded dimensions on the ruler.
The green markings are for solid blocks.
The purple markings are for half square.
And the aqua markings on the ruler
are for quarter square triangles.
With this ruler,
we can make quilt blocks that are 6 1/2 inches,
5 1/2 inches, 4 1/2 inches,
3 1/2 inches, and 2 1/2 inches.
And today, we're making all quilt blocks
that are 3 1/2 inches.
So we'll be following the half square measurements
on the ruler for half square triangles.
To make the center Eight-Pointed Star quilt block design,
we'll start by cutting crosswise fabric strips.
And the quilt I'm making today
is all made with 3 1/2 inch quilt blocks.
In the pattern,
we have instructions for making a bed size quilt
using 6 1/2 inch quilt blocks.
So either way, the choice is yours
to make a wall hanging or a bed quilt.
And it really doesn't take that much more time
to cut the pieces and sew them
for a bed quilt than a wall hanging.
We'll start by cutting crosswise fabric strips.
I'm following the ruler
and to make 3 1/2 inch half square quilt blocks,
I'll be cutting 3 7/8 inch crosswise fabric strips.
It used to be that we had to look in a book
or have that all memorized.
Now it's all on the ruler.
So we're cutting our crosswise fabric strips,
and then we'll subcut them into squares.
So for the center quilt block,
we'll need several fabrics in reds and creams,
and we'll be cutting 3 7/8 inch squares,
and we'll also need some corner squares
to set the block off.
And the corner squares are not made
into half square triangles,
so those need to be cut 3 1/2 inches.
To make a half square triangle,
we'll align a light square with a dark square,
and we like to use Nancy's No-Hassle Triangles Gauge.
It's a sliding gauge with the block sizes
and illustrations listed right on the gauge.
So I'll set the gauge for 3 1/2 inch half squares
and I'll align the gauge with the corners of the square.
And with a marking pen,
I'll mark through the die cut openings.
And I marked that center line,
but that's not our stitching line.
We'll be stitching 1/4 inch on each side of that line.
That's actually our center cut line,
but next we'll head to the sewing machine.
Then we'll attach 1/4 inch presser foot to the machine
and we'll stitch, we'll stitch on each side of that line.
After you stitched the block,
you'll have 1/4 inch, scant 1/4 inch stitching
on each side of that center line.
And I like to chain stitch the blocks,
just keep continuously feeding the blocks into the machine
and you'll have all your blocks made.
With the scissors, you'll cut apart those threads
to separate the blocks, and then I'm going to cut.
I'm cutting down the center of that line, that marked line.
And you could do that with a rotary cutter
and a rotary mat too.
And then when you open the blocks and press them,
each block set makes two half square triangle quilt blocks.
And you want to head to the pressing board
with the heat of an iron
and press those fabrics to the dark side,
press those seam allowances to the dark side.
After you've made all of your block sets
for the center Eight-Pointed Star design,
next is the arranging.
We'll arrange all of the half square quilt blocks
with four solid corner squares,
and you'll have the center Eight-Pointed Star design.
The next block element we're making
in our Red Elegance quilt are the Flying Geese blocks.
To make the Flying Geese blocks,
we'll start by cutting crosswise fabric strips
with our No-Hassle Triangles Ruler
and we'll subcut them into squares.
So for each block, you'll just need one set,
one dark and one light, and we'll pair them together.
We'll again take the No-Hassle Triangles Gauge,
and we'll slide that to the 3 1/2 inch half square block,
align it with the edges,
and we'll trace through the die cut openings.
And again, that's not our stitching line.
We will be stitching a scant 1/4 inch
away from each of those on each side of the line.
We'll head to the sewing machine,
we'll stitch, chain stitch those blocks together,
and the next step is to cut the blocks apart
and each block set will make two half square triangles.
Once you press these open,
it makes really fast work of making half square triangles.
Once you press them open,
it's simple, rotate, seam down the middle,
and you have Flying Geese quilt blocks.
The next block element we're making
in the Red Elegance quilt is the Bowtie block.
The Bowtie block is made up from two half square triangles
and two solid squares.
So we'll be cutting crosswise fabric strips
with the No-Hassle Triangles Ruler.
For the half square triangles,
we need to cut 3 7/8 inch crosswise fabric strips.
For the solid blocks, we need to cut 3 1/2 inch.
And the complete instructions are included with the ruler
and within the pattern.
After you've cut your crossways fabric strips,
we'll again subcut into squares.
So we'll take our dark square, our red berry square,
and a red square on top.
And we'll take the No-Hassle Triangles Gauge,
set it for the 3 1/2 inch half square block,
aligning it on the corners,
and then mark through those die cut openings.
We do this for each element of the quilt
between half square and solid blocks.
That's all that makes up the quilt.
It looks very intricate, but that's it.
You know, now we'll head to the sewing machine
and we'll use scant 1/4 inch seam allowance,
and we'll stitch on each side of that line.
We'll cut those blocks apart.
And each block set, one of these makes two half square triangles.
And just by rotating the blocks and positioning them
and adding those 3 1/2 inch square blocks,
you can create the Bowtie block.
The next block element is the Windmill quilt block.
The Windmill quilt block is made
from just four half square triangles.
And we'll make our half square triangles
the same way we've made our previous triangles,
cutting crosswise fabric strips
with the No-Hassle Triangles Ruler
and then subcutting them into squares.
And then I always put the light on top,
and with the No-Hassle Triangles Gauge,
mark my center line through those die cut openings,
and then we'll head to the sewing machine and stitch.
Stitching a scant 1/4 inch on each side of the line,
cutting the chain stitch blocks apart,
cutting the blocks in half,
following that center marked line.
And it works great to do that at the rotary mat
with a rotary cutter.
And then you'll press them open, pressing the blocks,
the seam allowance to the dark side of the block,
and then just making a bunch of different red
and off-white taupe, half square triangle blocks,
you can arrange them into the Windmill block.
You'll make block pairs,
and then you'll sew the pairs together.
And depending on where you place the red,
the dark of the half square,
it creates the rotation of the Windmill block.
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Now that we have all the block elements made,
we're going to assemble the quilt into the quilt top.
We'll start with the first row.
In the center of the first row are two Flying Geese blocks
surrounded by sashing strips, and then a pair of Flying Geese.
The second row in the center,
we have two Windmill blocks surrounded by sashing strips,
and on each side we have a Bowtie block,
and they're turned to be opposing.
I'll pull the quilt up
and let that center Eight-Pointed Star shine.
That center quilt block is so easy to make,
but it's such a focal point to make this beautiful quilt.
We've added sashing strips,
and then two more Windmill blocks
on each side of that center Eight-Pointed Star.
The bottom of the quilt is a mirror image
of the top of the quilt.
The next step would be to add the outer borders
and the inner borders.
The inner borders are this red diamond fabric
with contrasting cream floral cornerstones.
And the side sashing or inner border is also a red diamond.
And then the last step for the quilt top
is the outer borders.
We have this beautiful taupe paisley
with larger cornerstones
in a beautiful red elegance floral.
Once the quilt top is assembled,
then it's time for the quilting process.
So layer your quilt backing, your batting,
and your quilt top,
and use your favorite method of pinning or spray basting,
and then head to the sewing machine
and do some free motion quilting,
some straight line machine quilting,
and then the last step would be to add the binding.
And you'll find tips and blog posts and tutorials
on all of our favorite techniques
and the favorite Nancy Zieman binding technique
at nancyzieman.com/blog.
There are so many other popular quilt blocks
that are made with easy half square triangles
and quarter square triangles, including Night Vision,
Weather Vane, Sawtooth Star,
Shoofly, Square Dance,
May Basket,
King's Crown, Windmill,
and Nancy's Spool.
Find our free block sewing tutorials
at nancyzieman.com/blog.
Click on the Blog of the Month series in the right column.
Connect with Team NZP at the Nancy Zieman blog.
Find links to our social sites
and sign up to receive our e-news updates
in your e-mail inbox.
Thank you for joining me today.
I hope you enjoy Nancy's No-Hassle Triangles
in your next quilt.
You'll find the new No-Hassle Triangles Ruler
and No-Hassle Triangles Gauge along with our patterns,
project bundle boxes, and exclusive show specials
at shopnzp.com.
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