I cheat a bit and use The Strip Tube Ruler..cause I HST and I don't get along very well... :oops:

My brain does not do 8ths. I round up, sew and trim. It takes me longer than most people, but it's the only way I get it right.

Look at the bottom of the page here
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10208.asp
for grids you can print out when you need lots of them the same size


I have some others bookmarked, just can't find them now.

I also get much better results when I trim down the squares. I have discovered the cutting mat that rotates which makes that step faster.

I'm also of the round up and trim down persuasion. I am working on Friendship Stars for two of the nieces and found that I could get better finished squares by doing it this way. I figured I was just an amateur hack, but I'm glad to see that some of you more experienced quilters do it this way too. I briefly considered that I was wasting fabric, but I figured the price was worth getting accurate blocks. The first couple that I did were nightmares b/c the sizes weren't exactly right, but the stars look great now. Maybe someday I'll get more accurate, but for now I'm perfectly fine doing it this way.

Darren

El Burns has the best method for oversized then trimmed.
She uses large squares that make 8 HST at one time.
To trim to size takes one cut with her square up ruler.
It is so easy and fast and the ruler comes with a chart for all sizes.

I always add the extra 1/8" to make sure I don't have my HST too small. So a 4" square,mark the middle and sew 1/4" down both sides-cut apart on the marked line.

If I were making that many small hst I would use thangles-just make sure you get the right size ones for the FINISHED size you need.

Hi, when I made any HST's I always round up to the next number, in this case I'd cut 4" squares. Mark diagional, sew on either side of the line with a skinny 1/4", cut, press and then square up to size, in this case it would be 3 1/2". This way you are sure you HST is going to be the right size and the rest of the block will go together so much easier. You do the same thing with QST, round it up so when you get it made you can square it up to the correct size. :D Hope this helps and happy quilting. Jan

I like to make 8 HST at a time. The only drawback to this method is that they will all be identical. Here is my formula:

Half Square Triangles cutting 8 at a time
Use two same-size squares to make multiple triangle-squares.)

To determine what size squares you need to cut, multiply the desired finished size of the triangle-square by two, then add 1 ¾ “. For example, for a finished triangle-square that is 2 ½”square, use 6 ¾” 2 X 2 ½ (finished size) = 5”
5” + 1 ¾” = 6 ¾” square
Bisect the square in half in both directions with a pencil and a ruler and then draw the diagonals. Sew 1/4 inch on either side of the diagonal lines and cut apart on the vertical and horizontal lines. You will have 8 half square triangles.