Happy Christmas Quilt Top Finish and First Ever Half Square Triangles!

 One of my goals last year was to learn to sew half square triangles.  I've been quilting on and off for 9 years, and until recently had never sewn a single half square triangle 😲...I honestly don't know why I was so scared of them.  I think partly it was just the thought of trying something new that I had never done before.  New things are always scary, but as I get older I'm realizing how silly and restrictive it is to hold on to limiting beliefs such as "It's too hard" or "I don't think I can do that." So, I knew I needed to get over this fear, and I'm so glad I did because this Happy Christmas quilt is one of my favorites that I've ever made in my 9 years of quilting. 

This was another kit from Maker Valley  It included over 100 different fabrics and was so fun to put together!  The candy cane stripe border consisting of lots of half square triangles totally makes the quilt in my opinion.  

I think I made over 60 of these half square triangles for the border...I used the two at a time method and chain pieced, which helped it go a bit faster.  The most time consuming part was trimming each block after sewing.   

For the half square triangles that make up the edges of the green tree, I only made one HST at a time as the quilt kit instructed to allow more variety of prints in the tree points.  To make the HST for the tree points, I used my Creative Grids Folded Corner Clipper, which has to be one of the most underrated tools in my sewing room.  I also used it to make the snowball block corners for the tree ornaments and present blocks underneath the tree.  This ruler allows you to skip the step of drawing a line on the back of your square from corner to corner prior to sewing.  Instead of drawing the line, you use the corner clipper to cut off the edge of your square first, and then you sew along the edge of the trimmed corner, which already includes the 1/4 inch seam allowance, press, and you're done!  I hate taking the time to draw lines, so this little ruler is seriously one of my favorite tools!  You can also use it to join binding strips, which I haven't tried yet, but I plan on using it for my next binding. 

Look at those perfectly matched corners...easy peasy thanks to the Corner Clipper ruler!!

The New Year's Day snow was the perfect backdrop for my finished quilt top!  The year 2020 was definitely full of lots of uncertainty and challenges, but it's often the most challenging years that teach us the most, and I have definitely grown both as a person and a quilter this past year.  

I recently posted this sign on my pinboard in my sewing room to remind me that no matter how hard something seems, I can totally do it,  and I think that is the biggest lesson I will take away from the year 2020.  We are all capable of so much more than we know or believe.  Here's to more growth and recognizing our untapped potential in the year 2021.