How I Make Bonus Half-Square Triangles

While working on the May Stash Artists cover quilt (to be revealed soon!), I made a lot of stitch-and-flip flying geese. Whenever I make stitch-and-flip flying geese, I also make bonus half-square triangles (HSTs), because I hate wasting those corner pieces and I know that if I don't sew them together in the moment, they'll never get done. Aren't they pretty?

After they were all done, I realized I should have taken pictures so I could share how I make my bonus HSTs, but thankfully my current leaders and enders project is also stitch-and-flip flying geese, so I stitched up one of them for pictures instead.

I have to start by acknowledging that I learned this method on Bonnie Hunter's blog years ago, so she's the genius behind what I'm about to share. This method results in bonus HSTs in sizes to fit with the other common size units we make, making them much more useable.

How big will the bonus HST be?

The size of your bonus HST is determined by the cut size of the squares for your flying geese. The unfinished size of the bonus HST will be 1" smaller than the square.

For this tutorial, I'm using 2 ½" squares. That means the largest bonus HST I can make is 1 ½" unfinished (1" finished). The flying geese I made for the May Stash Artists pattern used 3 ½" squares, so I could make 2 ½" unfinished (2" finished) HSTs with them. 

What you need

• your rectangle and squares cut to the sizes needed for your stitch-and-flip flying geese
• a piece of template plastic, cardboard, or paper
• a ruler
• a sharp pencil or a pen
• scissors for cutting the plastic or cardboard
• pins
• rotary cutter

Make your template

I've made my templates for the bonus HSTs a couple of different ways, so I'll share both here. First is the method Bonnie Hunter calls a 'triangle buddy.' If you have template plastic, or any plastic thin enough to cut neatly with scissors, that's the best thing to use. If you don't have a suitable piece of plastic, a piece of cardboard from a cereal box or something similar will also work, but it will need to be replaced more often as the edge softens with use, making it less accurate.

To make your triangle buddy, draw a square the same size your unfinished bonus HST will be. Remember, that's 1" smaller than the cut square for your flying geese. For this tutorial, I'm making 1 ½" unfinished bonus HSTs, so I draw a 1 ½" square. I don't have any template plastic at the moment, so I used cardboard from a cracker box.

Now draw a diagonal line from corner to corner.

Cut out the square, then cut it in half along the diagonal line. You now have two triangle buddies. I usually write 'triangle buddy' on them so I don't throw them out, thinking they're just random bits of cardboard.

The other way I've made a template was to draw a square on a piece of paper the same size as the square for the flying geese. So for this tutorial, that is a 2 ½" square.

Along the top of the square, measure 1 ½" (or the unfinished size of your bonus HST) from the right corner and make a mark. Along the right side of the square, measure 1 ½" (or the unfinished size of your bonus HST) down from the top corner and make a mark. Use a ruler to draw a line connecting the marks, extending the line past the square.

Draw the lines on the squares

Now we're ready to draw the lines on the back of the squares. First, draw the diagonal line from corner to corner. This is the standard line for the stitch-and-flip flying geese.

Next, draw the line for the bonus HST. If you're using a triangle buddy, place it in the corner, lining up the edges of the template with the edges of the square. 

Draw a line along the diagonal edge of the template.

If you're using the square drawn on paper, place your fabric square on top of the template, lining up the edges exactly.

Line up your ruler with the diagonal line and draw the line.

Make the flying geese and bonus HST

Just as you normally do for stitch-and-flip flying geese, align a square with one end of the rectangle, with the drawn line as shown. Make sure the second line drawn for the bonus HST is towards the corner. Pin the square in place.

Stitch directly on both lines. Normally I chain piece these, stitching one line on all the units I'm making and then stitching the second line on all of them.

Cut ¼" away from the seam for the flying geese.

Now trim the seam allowance on the bonus HST to ¼" as well.

Press both units open.

Repeat with a second square on the other end of the rectangle to give you a finished flying geese unit and two bonus HSTs. Trim the dog ears off the bonus HSTs.

That's it! Now you're ready to make bonus HSTs whenever you make stitch-and-flip units like flying geese or snowball corners. 

I've been pondering how to use this batch of HSTs and I think they might show up in a future Stash Artists mini quilt pattern. If you love scrappy and stash-friendly quilt patterns and want sew with virtual friends, come join us in Stash Artists!