Half-Square Triangles with Jelly Rolls

Using a jelly roll, which is a bundle of pre-cut fabric strips, can be a great way to save time when cutting out and piecing a quilt. Heather Thomas shows you how to use jelly roll strips, along with a background fabric to make fun half-square triangles.

Fabric

Heather first begins by explaining what a jelly roll is, how wide the strips generally are, and how many strips can be found in a bundle. She then talks about the background fabric needed to create the half-square triangles and explains that since there isn’t a specific pattern required for this technique, the size of half-square triangles being made can be changed to accommodate the fabric on hand.

Piecing Method

Heather begins by showing how to create a strips set, which means you are simply sewing strips of fabric together. She also gives tips on how she selects different fabric prints and colors from a bundle to ensure they look good together. While piecing the strips together, Heather shows how to do a technique known as chain piecing which can be a quicker way to sew many pieces together. Once the strips have been pieced together, Heather shows how to press them and cut them down into units.

Heather shows how to measure the strips set to determine its width, and then cuts accordingly to create a square. After the strip set has been cut into squares, Heather shows how to cut the square into quarter-square triangles. Quarter-square triangles are then cut from the background fabric as well, and then Heather shows how to combine the two into half-square triangles.

Because of the way these half-square triangles are made, each has a slightly different look to it. Heather then shows several ways to arrange the blocks into a quilt design. If you enjoyed using jelly rolls for this technique, try out other methods like a rail fence quilt pattern using a jelly roll or an entire jelly roll class.