The last time I did a Jewel Box-altho it was scrappy-I used the triangles on a roll.......the fastest way to use various sizes of fabric and the fact that one has to tear away the paper after is really not an extra time waster......If you sew the seams at 1.5 that paper just comes right off...Great thing to do while watching your fav on TV at the end of a day..........

Rose Marie has the better answer to HST with no bias edges, but I don't need a special ruler to square up. Somewhere I saw a tutorial in which the two large pieces of fabric are laid out RST. A grid is drawn and sewn in the right sizes. Then all you have to do is cut the whole thing apart and you have gazillions of HST. Maybe someone can find that? ? ?

Oops! I must have missed a page! I see several posts have the link to making the grid and sewing up many HST at once.

If you want to make the HST with the bias edges, I've been told just starch the heck out of them and you will have less trouble.

I tried this method and was very disappointed. The squares were different sizes and I would have to cut them down alot to get them the same size. I ended up tearing them apart and using them as scraps. Do one of the other methods.

4.5 unfinished, would mean that the diagonal cut across the sewn square would have to be 9 inches. Add another inch for the seams. That leaves you with a square that is at least 10" diagonally. The diagonal measurement of a square is 1.4 times the side of the square. That means the original square would be at minimum 7.25" square. Personally, I'd start with at least 8" squares of fabric.

Wow!!! I am impressed with this tutorial, and I bookmarked this site. Excellent information. Thank you.

I've found that if I heavily starch the squares after the sides are sewn together, I don't have a problem with the bias edges. I buy the liquid starch and mix it half and half with water and put it in a spray bottle. I now love HSTs!

ontheriver, the method you have discribed would then give you HTSs with the edges on the cross of the fabric, which will have the tendancy to stretch when sewing unless of course you are prepared to starch the diggens out of it before you start. I usually use a square about 3/4" more than the size I want, put two pieces rsf and stitch 1/4" either side of a marked diagonal, then cut on the marked diagonal and trim to size, this method only gives you two hts but it puts your outer edge on the straight grain.

I heard that you can take your triangulations disk to Office Depot and they will print out what you need.. I don't think they charge more than copy price..