The Biggest HRT Mistakes To Avoid

First off, what are HRTs? Well, I guess you could call them the friendly cousin of HSTs. Easy to confuse. Related, but very, very distinct. HRTs are “half-rectangle triangles.” And it’s super easy to make mistakes with them when you’re new to HRTs. They can be a little confusing, so I’m here to help solve all your HRT problems!

The first thing you’ll want to notice is that they’re very, very different from HSTs. There’s only one kind of HST, for example, but there are two kinds of HRTs. You can flip an HST around any which-a-way to get your desire result, but HRTs are made to mirror each other: one kind has a seam running from top left to bottom right corner, and the other has a seam running top right to bottom left. You can’t just flip them around and get what you need; you have to start out knowing which type to make.

And the first big mistake quilters often make with these little blocks is when piecing them. You start with two same-size rectangles. You draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner. Simple enough. But you can’t just line them up one on top of the other, as if you were piecing some tame little HSTs. No, no. You have to match opposite corners instead. And the drawn lines have to mirror each other. What? I know, it’s confusing and weird. Here. Let me insert some graphics.

Step one:

Draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner of two fabric rectangles; one line should run from top left to bottom right; the other runs from top right to bottom left.

Step two:

Pair background and foreground fabric rectangles, aligning opposite corners.

So far so good? The next step is to sew 1/4” to either side of the drawn lines. You could pin the rectangles into place. I usual skip the pins. I skip pinning a lot. Shhhh. I know I’m not supposed to. But in this case, I skip pinning because it causes a little lump in the fabric that makes it harder to get a straight seam. I get great results without pinning my HRTs in this step. But you do you. And once you’re done with that, you just cut them apart on the drawn line and press them open.

Step three:

Sew 1/4” on either side of drawn lines.

Step four:

Cut apart on drawn line.

Step five:

Press HRTs open. Press seams as you wish.

So far, so good? The next big mistake quilters make with HRTs regards trimming them. In the next blog post, I’ll explain how to trim them and why it makes sense, despite being initially confusing for most quilters.