Cutting out
Step 1
Draw out a 16cm square on a thick piece of card and cut it out. Use this template and a rotary cutter to cut out fourteen 16cm squares of plain fabric and fourteen 16cm squares of patterned fabric (Fig 1).
Making the half square triangles
Step 1
With right sides together place one plain square and one patterned square together. Using a pencil or air-erasable pen and ruler, draw a diagonal line from one corner of the square to the opposite corner (Fig 2). Draw two more lines, each one parallel and ¼in (6mm) away from either side of the central line. Use a quilter’s quarter rule for this or measure it with a ruler.
Step 2
Sew along each of the lines next to the central line. Use a rotary cutter or scissors to cut through the two pieces of fabric along the central line (Fig 3). This will give you two Half-Square Triangle units (square units each made up of two triangles).
Step 3
Press the seam of the half-square triangle units towards the darker triangle (Fig 4). Trim off the dog ears (the little bit of fabric sticking out at the end of the seam) and square up. Repeat steps 2–4 to make half-square triangle units from all of your remaining squares of fabric.
Sewing the flags
Step 1
Lay out all the units to see which way round and in what order you would like to place them and then pair them up. Put each pair right sides together, with edges aligned and a pin on the three sides to be sewn the top of each flag is left open (Fig 5).
Step 2
Taking one pair at a time and using a ¼in (6mm) seam, sew all around the three sides (Fig 6). Trim across the two sewn corners, turn right way out and press. Repeat with all of the flags.
Sewing the flags to the binding
Step 1
Place a flag on the table. Open out the bias binding and with right sides together pin the binding to the top of the square, aligning the two raw edges (Fig 7). Start the first square 45cm along the binding.
Step 2
Pin the remaining flags to the binding, spacing them at about 10cm intervals (Fig 8). Now sew a seam along the crease of the binding to secure the flags to the binding.
Step 3
To finish, fold the bias binding in half and over the top of the squares. Pin in place and then sew a seam all along, 2mm up from the bottom edge of the binding to secure all the flags (Fig 9).
