patchwork pouch in scrappy half square triangles

Sometimes I think it’s not physically possible for me to get rid of fabric scraps. There’s always a chance I might find some use for even the smallest of pieces, and I end up saving them and sorting them by colour and size.

Usually those scraps end up in the EPP hexagon quilt, but some time back I suddenly felt like piecing things using the machine, and decided that triangles would be a good idea. I pulled out some of the scraps and then chose some low volume fabric to pair the scraps with.

I chain-pieced the half square triangles (or HSTs) without deciding on a final pattern. I still find the name HST a bit odd, even after following quilting blogs and admiring pretty Instagram feeds for years. It’s basically a square cut diagonally, so you get two triangles from it. (For the more geometry-minded, it’s an isosceles right triangle — a 90° triangle with two sides with the same length.) There are faster methods to making the blocks, usually by stitching two squares together and then slicing them up, but I wanted the pairs to be in as many different combinations as possible, so no shortcuts for me.

One thing about HSTs that I find not very fun is squaring up the blocks. Just look at that pile of trimmings! I suppose it’s one of those inevitable things. It also doesn’t seem to matter how accurately I cut the triangles — the square block always finishes up a bit off. I’ve learned that it’s best to cut them a bit larger and then trim than trying to get the perfect square from piecing them together.

I decided to have the light-coloured pieces point in the same direction, and ended up with this configuration. I pulled out the blocks randomly from a pile before arranging them in a row, sometimes shifting them around when two blocks with the same colour were next to each other.

Those two panels became the main body of a simple flat zippered pouch. The patchwork panels were interfaced (but not quilted) and I added a PVC leather accent to the bottom and used it for the zip tabs as well. The lining is a dark brown fabric with flowers. It turned out pretty well, don’t you think?

Zippered pouch in scrappy HSTs

Zippered pouch in scrappy HSTs

Zippered pouch in scrappy HSTs

Zippered pouch in scrappy HSTs

The pouch is available in my Etsy shop now. I still have quite a few more HST blocks unused, so I might make another!

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