Tutorial

You will need 168 5" squares to make a quilt top that finishes at 63x71. If you use Rouenneries or Authentic that will be 4 charm packs, they are perfect at 42 squares each. If you decide to cut your own squares I recommend making them 5-1/2" instead of 5". Ideally you want definite lights and darks for this quilt. Although Sarah didn't really do that and it turned out fine. So do whatever you want :)
For borders you will need 1/2 yard for the inner and 1 yard for the outer.Handy tools I highly recommend: The Angler 2, the Quilt in a Day triangle square up ruler, and the Precision Trimmer 6.Now pair up your squares, one light and one dark, right sides together and make 2 stacks of 42 pairs each.
When I make half-square triangles (to be called hst's from this point forward) I use The Angler 2 which means I don't have to draw any lines and that makes me very happy. If you don't have one your next step will to be to draw a straight line diagonally through the center of the lighter square.Next you sew a 1/4" inch seam on each side of the drawn line.
With the Angler you just line up your outer edge with these lines:And sew until you can see the line down here: Now I have tweaked my Angler by extending the line down onto tape so that I can see it sooner...this will only make sense if you have an Angler 2. Edited to add: I just found this website with video on how to use this here.
Now flip it around and do the same thing on the other side.
Next you cut down the line if you have drawn them or if not you just line up a 1/4" marking with one of the sewn lines and cut.Using the quilt in a day ruler line up the 4-1/2" line with your sewn line and trim.
Turn it around and clip the dog ears like this. The instructions in this ruler are great so you'll understand if you have it.
Now take them to your ironing board and press toward the dark.

With other rulers you will press toward the dark and then square them up. My other ruler I love for squaring up is the Precision Trimmer 6. My gripe with it is that it only does measurements that end in 1/2". Or you can just use a normal ruler.And then the other sideNow grab your second pile of squares and sew a quarter inch seam down two opposite sides:
Cut down the middle by measuring in 2-1/2" and press toward the dark.
Next mix and match your pieces and with dark to light and nesting your seams take them to your machine and sew up opposite sides again.
Cut in half using the same method and press open.Take them to your cutting table and square them up. This is where the Precision Trimmer comes in handy. Now you should have 84 hst's and 84 4 patches.I usually put the whole thing up on my design wall like here and then sew it together a row at a time. You could also do it block by block...here are a couple on my design wall so you can see where darks and lights go. I am making a little table topper with the Authentic that's why there's a border.
I have to proof read this later...I have a poor little ignored puppy here and strip club is tonight.
Hopefully I will actually be able to read some blogs this week!
If anyone sees any mistakes I would love it if you would tell me so I can fix them :)
Have a great week everyone!