Quilting Folded HSTs

How do you quilt a quilt with folded half square triangles (HSTs)? There are several options. It all depends on the look you are going for and the function the quilt will serve. Highlighted below are a few options and use cases.

Leave them open. Then you can machine quilt or hand quilt around them leaving the flap open. It creates nice texture and an extra element of design. This is a great option for wall hanging quilts or decorative quilts.

For this quilt (the Rotating Triangles Quilt), the folded HSTs were left open. Dense quilting around the folded HSTs added to the texture and visual interest and helped highlight the open HSTs.

Sew them down. This is a great option if the quilt will be used a lot or by children as the open folded HSTs may be more likely to snag or rip.

To keep the dimension of the triangles, quilt down only the very top of the open triangles, very close to the edge. This will create more of a 3D effect. To make them even more 3D, you can add filler under the open triangle then machine or hand sew them down at the edge. This would be a great option for kids quilts as the folds will be secured down but there will be fun texture that kids will love.

Edge to Edge Quilting: This will make the quilt look more like a traditional HST quilt. You can either machine quilt them down, hand quilt them down, or use even use edge to edge quilting over them (just pay attention as the machine is sewing over them to make sure they get tacked down correctly).

Edge to Edge quilting was used for this Rotating Triangles Quilt. A less dense quilting design was used, which minimized the number of times it crosses the open flaps. Now, the quilt looks more like a traditional HST quilt.

However you decide to quilt your folded HST quilt, you cannot go wrong! The texture is fun and playful. Stare any other ideas below or tell us what you are going to do with your folded HSTs!

If you are looking for a good pattern to try out Folded HSTs, check out the Rotating Triangles quilt pattern.