Follow up on 60 degree triangles

   Two rows of 60 degree triangles put together, and the ends chopped off.  That means  the edges are bias! 
   This technique is not for the faint of heart.  It reminds me a lot of paper piecing....sew a seam and trim, then repeat.   I was using a regular ruler and lining the sewn seam up on the 60 degree line for trimming.  If I did this again, I would purchase the 60 degree triangle.
  You need a lot of triangle units because you join small ones together to create larger ones.   The tutorial that Kim did gave several ways to make different triangle units to get a varied look.   Some of my points got very tiny from the adding and trimming.  And then others got chopped off completely.   I got a little lazy and threw  in a long filler strip in a couple of spots. 

   After 2 more afternoons of sewing, I came up with enough units to put together a small wall hanging banner.   I did a "cop out" on the upper right hand corner and used long strips to finish off with the white corner....no more triangle  units. 
   Once I had it trimmed up, I added a 1 1/2" strip --cut on the straight of grain---all the way around to stabilize the bias edges.
   Did I get the look of the Olympic banners?  Yes, I think so.  The effect using the technique is very similar.
   Will I do this again?   No, probably not, well maybe..  I could select fabrics and colors, but not really control where they ended up.  That was a little frustrating for me.    Making the units was fine, but joining and chopping them off seemed wasteful to me.  Maybe I should have just tried the 1000 pyramids............
   But on the upside....it is done.  I tried a new technique, and got this out of my system.  Maybe later on, I will try this again as a way to use up lots of scraps for a lap quilt.  It does have possibilities.      

Love these gift tags!

    I love these gift / care tags that Deana has in her PodBeLu Etsy shop .  My colors and pattern......swirls and paisleys.  I hope she saves a few of these for me.....big hint!
   They are heavy card stock that she die cuts.  The backs are plain so you can write on the to/from.  Or  even better......for care instructions.  I like that idea for when I give quilted gifts.  A lot of people think you can't wash the mug rugs, or wall hangings that we create!  I want to include washing  instructions and a note to always use a color grabber or dye catcher with the quilt.

 
      Just a few more of the fun mix of patterns she has put together.  Please stop by and visit her soon at PodBeLu .
  Oh....and I am very pleased to report on Day 86 of the shoulder event that I drove myself to church today....all by myself for the first time in 3 months!    Sir Old Man was on Production Team today and working camera 2, so if I was going, I had to drive.  OK, so I went to the early service and there was very little traffic, but I felt so free!    
  A few more triangle units are done....I hope to get to sew more tomorrow.  Happy stitching.  

Making Triangle Units

     There is something very freeing about easy piecing.  Just let the machine hum along and your mind wander along too.  Before I  knew it I had put together about 2 dozen cobblestone blocks. Now, I have no plan right now for the cobblestone blocks, but I will continue to accumulate them and develop  a future project for them. 

    The thing that was exciting was the flash of memory that  I had.  A while back, I mentioned the Olympic banners  that look like quilts.  I want to do a banner or maybe a series of seasonal banners with that same look.  I had  thought about several methods.....diamonds and strips, squares on point,  and  equilateral triangles, even just fusing and top stitching pieces down.  But it did not come together in my head until I remembered part of  a tutorial I had run across a few months ago on the 60 degree triangle.  At the time I first read it, I thought  "Too confusing, and  all those triangles!"  

     I will digress here to explain my aversion to triangles....or small triangles at least.   A  few  years ago, I participated in a mystery quilt at guild.  Things were going well, until the "red herring" clue came up in the 3rd or 4th month.  The instructions were  to sew about a million little triangle cut offs into 1 1/2 inch half square triangles, and then turn them into 2"  pinwheels!   Well, I did some of them---about a dozen pinwheels---and decided that was enough.  I figured I would just substitute a plain square or larger HST in the mystery quilt.  Fast forward to the end------the pinwheels were NOT used in the quilt at all.  Yep, I was furious about it.  I  knew that was the last mystery I would do and the last time I would deal with a quilt with so many small / tiny / miniature pieces, especially if they are triangles.   


    So I went looking for the tutorial to give it a second chance.   Kim Brackett at Magnolia Bay Quilts   has  added to her tutorial on the 60 Degree Triangle.   It is now in 3 parts  for making large units of 60 degree triangles.   I did spend a while copying and pasting  to a document to print  for reference.  

  These are a couple of the units  I  put together without having to cut lots of triangles.  I am working with strips and a few cut angles to begin with, and adding and cutting until I get a large enough size.  Sometimes you lose a point  or need to add a small corner piece, but I am liking it so far.    Her technique results in a very scrappy look.....and I think it will work for what I want to do.    Guess I will be making triangle units this weekend.....
 Happy stitching.  
  

Borders on

    Borders on and into the stack of projects "to be quilted" it goes.  It may be a couple months before I can do machine quilting,  I need much better control  and strength of the left arm.  
Anyway,  I chose a mottled burgundy fabric for the border to pull out all the reddish tones in the center.  Wish the photo color was better to show this.
   I measured the length in several places before cutting the border strips for the sides......and took the average of 30" for the length.  Using a pencil for marking, I squared up the corners and sides.  The border pieces were lined up with the marked line and sewn.  Then everything was trimmed.  Only one spot has a bit of fullness---at the top---but I believe I can work it in with quilting.

 
   I had a question about doing a braid with a black or burgundy separator strip and how would that look.   So for your comparison, here is a  photo is  Higher Hope that I made a couple of years ago.  It is one of my favorites and is hanging in the sunroom right now.
    It is the same basic braid pattern using
2 1/2" strips---just a scrappier version.  The braid runs are  separated by a black strip about 1 1/2" wide.    Any and all scrap strips were used including some floral fabrics.  They were arranged by value, blending from one dominant color to the next....usually.    Sometimes  it was hard to define/determine the main color of a fabric,  so I just jumped to another color and started again. Rather than refer to this one as a watercolor or a true color wash, it is what I call blended.  
      Not sure what I will pick up next....maybe just some easy piecing of cobblestones from batik leftovers.  I sure I will find a spark of inspiration.  Happy stitching.  

The watercolor braid

  I got back to joining the braid rows, finally.  All 6 braid runs are  together.  You can see the sides still need to be trimmed and squared with the top and bottom.  And the border added to stabilize all those bias edges.
   Bias stretches...always.  Each row is bias joined to bias in this braid.  That is why I only cut when I am ready to sew...right then.  Even so, you make have some places that don't match too well.   The other braid quilt (and the French Braid too) that I made  had a separator strip sewn between each run.   So I wasn't sewing bias to bias.  

   But luckily, these are busy prints and  make for good camouflage!  Note the bottom triangles where the dark row joins the light row.....way off.  Yet the rest of the row was almost perfect.

  Technique Tip:
   This area matched well too.   I did not pin  right at the edge, but rather about an inch in from where I would sew.  I was more concerned with the center points of each run staying level and even  across the quilt top......so I also pinned in the center matching those center points.  
     That was all the sewing done today.  It is Day 81....much more progress is being made in PT.  I notice more range of motion to the side and I can raise the arm (with right hand assistance) almost 90 degrees.  So there is improvement and hope.....and more to come.
  Happy stitching.

FMQ in tiles

  This month's Free Motion Quilting Challenge   by  Angela Walters is great.  It produces a very different effect for background quilting, giving the look of overlapping tiles.  Each tile has a filled with  stitching.   I did two different ones, swirls and stacked teardrops.  Why limit yourself to one when 2 or more will do.
   You begin in one corner creating a tile and filling it in, and then move to the side and repeat.  I did draw my lines as I got to a new section to box in.  And you need to think about where you are stitching, so that you can end up back at the beginning.  I learned that on the second tile when I ended up in the wrong spot.  Oh, well, that is what practice is for.  I just picked another spot and tried again.

 In the center I used what I call stacked teardrops.  A single teardrop shape or paisley is the basis and then you simply do a larger one around the first back to where you began.  If needed I add a third one to fill in or travel to another area.







   This technique creates instant texture and looks wonderful on tonal type fabrics.  I like the
"old world "   feeling that the overlapping tiles give.
  My practice piece is about 9" by 12".....when trimmed and bound, it is going to be a great snack mat.
  Many thanks to Angela for a great lesson.
Happy stitching.   

Happy Day 75

   Yes, Day 75 for me....I woke up for the first time in 75 days with no pain.  When I said a cheerful  "Good Morning" to Sir Old Man, he was  a little stunned and it took a few seconds to register the tone of my voice. Very appropriate  that it lands on Independence Day--our mid-summer 4th of July--for me.  I do believe I will regain some of that independence  for myself soon.  To celebrate, I sewed this morning.
      I finished off a couple of string pieced mug rugs. Just using lots of bits and pieces of floral fabrics sewn to a muslin base. No plan to them, I used what was next in the pile of strings.
     Next I went to the design wall and tackled the last 2 braid runs of floral fabrics.   Then I put together 3 of them to see what would happen.

     Once I got them stitched together, I realized how reminiscent this one is to "Comings and Goings"  journal quilt project.  The journal quilt was done with squares, and this is done with the braid strips, but visually very much alike.  I seem to have a one track mind with this design.
   Technique hint:    Each braid is cut 2 3/4" from the center point to the edge.....be sure to spray starch before cutting to help stabilize the bias edges that will be created.  Sew immediately....cut, sew, then cut the next one.  Only cut the side you will be sewing.

    I added a link in the side bar for my daughter's new etsy shop, PodBelu.  She is back to making her PodBeLu bags for small knitting projects.  Some bags are quilted and others are up-cycled wool sweaters that she felts and sews.   And she is adding lavender sachets for tucking into your woolen items....now you know why I harvested so much lavender.  Pop over and check it out, please, for Mom's sake.

   Now that I have had fun sewing, it is time to exercise with the beach ball and stick.  What a way to celebrate the 4th.  Hope yours is happy.
Happy stitching.