GrandmaK, of course you can make them the square way. I'd still cut the two squares 1" larger than you need, sew on each side of the drawn line, cut apart, press, then square up. They are so much more accurate this way -- being squared up afterwards -- and thus are easier to piece together into the blocks. (Yep, it's a lot of squaring up. Just pick a day and do as many as you can. I once had a project with 464 HSTs that took me a week to square up, but that project then went together in a snap afterwards; I was glad I did the "extra" work!)

Of course there is an even easier way to make a series of HSTs all at one time rather than by the individual squares method. I'll try to get it drawn out for you in a bit.

Jan in VA

Here is the grid method for making HSTs. We had to learn to do this in the days before triangle paper came on the market and I've used it mostly ever since. It's a good technique to familiarize yourself with because you never know when you'll need it at 9pm on Saturday night when all the LQS are closed!

Jan in VA

Start sewing on the dotted diagonal line at the righthand upper corner and pivot at the intersections, just turning your fabric and leaving it in place under the needle. You won't have to cut your thread until you've come back to that same corner and all the lines are sewn!

THANK YOU SO MUCH. I have seen this before but did not understand it. I think I do now. I can hardly contain myself I want to try it. I must finish my grandson's T shirt quilt first and my Grand daughter has some medical issues I need to deal with before I submerge myself in a new project. I will do this. You are so kind.

Thanks Jan... this has helped me also!! I'm going to try it out tomorrow...:-)