How To Use HST Perfect Papers from Shabby Fabrics

Published August 2026

Join Jen for a walkthrough of HST Perfect Papers, an exclusive notion from Shabby Fabrics that makes eight half square triangles at a time. This tutorial covers how to read the papers, how to set up your machine, and how to sew and cut your way to units that need no squaring up at all.

In this video, you'll learn:

• How the papers tell you exactly what size to cut.
• Why a 1.5 stitch length matters when you're sewing through paper.
• How to pin so your pins stay clear of the sewing lines.
• How to sew on the dashed lines and cut on the solid ones.
• How to press a set of units for pinwheels.

Check the links for everything you need.

Introduction

Half square triangles show up in an enormous number of quilt blocks, and making them has always been a bit of a chore.

Take the projects from our Hydrangeas in the Garden collection with Riley Blake. Each block combines a fussy cut floral center with half square triangles sewn into a pinwheel, plus more of them in the corners. That's eight half square triangles per block. The table runner needs 24, and the lap quilt needs 144!

The traditional method is the rule of seven eighths. Add seven eighths to your finished size, cut your squares, draw a line, track a quarter inch on either side, sew, cut, press, and hope they measure what they should. Making two at a time, that's a lot of work before you've built a single block, and it's what chases some quilters away from these blocks entirely.

HST Perfect Papers take a different approach. The paper tells you what size to cut, you sew on dashed lines and cut on solid lines, and you get eight at a time.

We don't use the word perfect casually. Most things come out close. These come out exactly on measurement, which is why the name says what it says.

What You'll Need

• HST Perfect Papers in the size you need. Available in 1", 1.5", 2", 3", 3.5", and 4" finished.
• Two contrasting fabrics
• Patchwork pins
• Rotary cutter with a sharp blade
• Spinning mat
• Ruler for checking your work
• Iron and pressing surface

The sizes on the pad are finished sizes. A 2" finished half square triangle measures 2.5" unfinished as it goes into your block. The papers are packaged as a pad with a lid, so you lift the cover, take a sheet, and close it again. Everything stays clean and organized in your sewing room.

Setting Up

The instructions are printed right on the paper, and step one is your machine.

Shorten your stitch length to 1.5mm. Most machines sit at 2.5 by default. Bringing it down perforates the paper so it releases cleanly, and it puts more thread into a given distance so everything stays stable once the papers come away.

Sewing and Cutting

For the 2" finished size, the paper tells you to layer two 6.5" squares right sides together.

1. Place your two fabrics right sides together.
2. Pin the paper on top. Put your pins in the open areas so they stay well clear of the dashed lines you're about to sew.
3. Sew on the dashed lines.
4. Cut on the solid lines. A spinning mat makes this part quick.

Sew on dashed, cut on solid. That's the whole instruction, and it's printed on every sheet. There's no measuring, no marking, and no decisions to make along the way.

No Squaring Up Required

This is the part worth pausing on. Your units come off the paper at size, so there's nothing to trim.

The workaround many of us used before was to oversize deliberately, adding a full inch instead of seven eighths, then squaring every unit up afterward. It worked, but it was slow, and squaring up very small units puts your fingers uncomfortably close to a rotary blade.

Accuracy also protects your fabric. Kits come with what the project needs and not a great deal more. When every unit comes out right the first time, you're not spending your fabric on second attempts.

Removing Papers and Pressing

1. Remove the papers from your units.
2. Press. If these are heading into a pinwheel, press every unit toward the same fabric, so the seams behave predictably when the block goes together.

An assembly line rhythm works nicely. Press one set while you take the papers off the next.

Lay a ruler across a finished unit and check it. A 2" finished half square triangle measures a true 2.5", every single time.

Perfect for Scrap Projects

These are wonderful for using up the fabrics you've saved from past projects. Two 6.5" squares right sides together gives you eight half square triangles. Do it again with another pair, and again with another.

Set them together as plain half square triangles or spin them into pinwheels, and you have a memory quilt full of fabrics you loved the first time around.

If pinwheels are a block you've steered around in the past, these change the picture entirely. The thing we can't get back is time, and nobody wants to spend theirs seam ripping. Eight at a time, and knowing they're right!

For personal use only, not for commercial production. No part of this pattern may be reproduced, shared, or distributed in any form unless given express written consent by Shabby Fabrics. Not to be used with any online classes or video tutorials other than the official Shabby Fabrics tutorial. All designs, photographs, and images are protected by federal copyright law. All rights reserved.