Vintage Market Quilt

Vintage Market is comprised of all half-square-triangles (hst for short). In my opinion, the hst is one of the worst blocks to make. The marking, the trimming, the pressing. There’s so many steps to making them look decent. However, i don’t despise them as much using the Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmer, by New Leaf Stitches. These trimmers really do help make your hst look much better. I always have trouble figuring out where to trim with my regular cutting rulers. So when I found this to help with the trimming, i was ecstatic. I was so sad when i accidentally dropped my trimmer off of the cutting table once. It broke and it was a scramble to glue it back together. Using this slotted trimmer is easy, just line up your seam with the dotted line and trim the edes and dog-ears. I find it better to use a rotary cutter with a smaller blade to get into the slots easier. If you don’t have one of these trimmers, I highly suggest it.

When making this Vintage Market quilt, be sure to pay attention to your fabric combinations. It uses several different ones that are easy to get mixed up if you don’t stay organized. Many people use labels for keeping track of fabrics and blocks while cutting and sewing. I don’t. For me, they just get in the way. So, I lay out my fabrics or constructed blocks carefully while putting the top together. It is much easier to construct the top if you are organized with this quilt and its pieces. 

The actual construction of the hst is quite simple, though it can take some practice if you’ve never done them. Most people mark the wrong side of one block from one corner to the opposite and then sew a seam on either side of the drawn line. I was tired of marking the back of each square and came up with a different method. 

I found a strip of scrap fabric that measured longer than the diagonal of the squares. I place an edge of the strip on the square and carefully line up the edge from one corner to the other. Basically, the strip is acting like your drawn line. Then you can sew your seam ¼” from the strip, on both sides. Don’t forget to flip the strip so that it covers your first seam when coming back to sew the other side. Also, i use a scant ¼” seam when making the hst. I like a little extra trimming room to square up my blocks. If that doesn’t make sense, I did try to post a short video reel of my method on my Instagram page. I also need to mention that this alternative method is easier on smaller sizes of squares. I don’t do this for fabric squares over 6 or 7 inches, since the diagonal is larger.