Half Triangle Squares Progress

Progress is being made!  

I've actually got 480 of the 840 half triangle square I need for Bonnie Hunter's Jamestown Landing class. I will probably make two pillow shams using  some of the same units. I'll probably need an extra 64 square units or more. (EEK!)  

The good news is the Accuquilt multiple triangle die is working great.  Cutting takes hardly any time (or so it seems.)  I'm sewing the units as leader enders and often sew 5 or 6 in a row.  

The goal is to have all of the necessary triangle square units done by the class on 2/20.  And, all of 168 of the white string quilt blocks done.  Even if I don't have them all done I will have a substantial amount of both of these units finished by then.  

I am using 2 plastic "scones boxes" for triangle squares storage.  My local Wegmans grocery sells some really good lemon scones in plastic boxes.  And as a bonus the boxes work great to store these units especially since you can see what's in them.  I'm using cherry tomato plastic boxes for the 4.5" string blocks.  Eventually, the boxes can be tossed in the recycling can.  I love when I can use things again before I recycle them. Do you use some non "quilt" things in your studio? 

Have you ever seen a sign like this?  I saw one at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse last week or so.  Pat and I really like their food.  Unfortunately, I hate beer so I don't enjoy the brews but, ahhhh, the food is good.  I think the sign is fairly new.  What a great way to assist our combat wounded veterans.  

I'm ready to get back to the sewing machine (you know those triangle units are calling my name.)  I'm linking up with the following linky parties: Needle and Thread Tursday, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, and Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

To Border or Not to Border

Reading blogs over the last few days one blogger said she keeps a record of tops waiting to be quilted.  It reminded me of last year's UFO list because I had lumped all incomplete projects together. And forgot to list a few quilt tops waiting to be quilted.  Hence the picture above.  I hadn't even looked in this tub last year and yet I found 3 tops in there this week.  The one shown above is small and has the backing and the batting with it.  I may do a big stitch on it, or perhaps just use my Bernina to finish it.  It needs to be done! 

Along with it I found 2 other tops.  Of the three I only remembered this one. 

I made this as a sample for a talk on string quilting that I did for Faithful Circle Quilters annual show many years ago.  Time to finish this and donate it.  What do you think?  Bordered with the blue (as shown on the right?  Or unbordered as shown on the left. (Not quite fair since you can't really see the strip of fabric on the end!)  Better below? 

No border? 

OR 

Bordered? 

Also in the bin was this quilt.  Gah... lots and lots of half square triangles.  I'm pretty sure I just automatically sewed these as leaders and enders. 

This one currently has a very dark navy border.  Do you think I should put another border on?  If so what would you recommend color/print-wise?  This isn't going to be at the top of the list of things to do but it wouldn't take long to complete it.  I also have a few charities I donate quilts to that might be able to put this one to use.  And the string quilt will probably be given to the NICU unit the guild donates to. 

These are my "bonus" quilt tops.  I would love to get them finished and out in the hands of someone who would love them.  Let me know your thoughts on these border questions.  

Today I'm linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts' Let's Be Social, WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and on Thursday at Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.  (hope I remember to actually link up tomorrow!)   

Happy Quilting All! 

Triangle Thursday #1!

WINDMILL 

This design is #1126 from Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.

Welcome to the first Triangle Thursday.  The goal of TT is to present quilt blocks that will help you use up those stray triangles cut off from other quilt blocks.  When I started looking at my collection I realized my triangles runneth over.  And, not only have I got scads of them, I’ve saved some that are way TOO small.  My new rule is the short side of the triangle must be at least 2” long.  That size will give me a 1” finished half square triangle unit.

This is just a portion of the cut off triangles I have.  I'll probably have to add some lights to go with all the colors I have. 

 
I plan to present a new block every Thursday.  Hopefully it will be for the whole year, but if I find I can’t keep up, or I can’t find enough appropriate blocks I’ll end sooner.  If this keeps going for the whole year I hope to put 48 blocks into a quilt.  Every block will be presented as a 6” block.  Some blocks, like today’s will also be shown as a 4” block with directions.  Both 9 patch and 4 patch blocks can easily be made as 6” blocks.  9 patch blocks require odd math to make 4” blocks so those are the ones that won’t be offered in the 4” size.  

Come join the fun and use up some of those cut off triangles. You should be able to go to this Google Docs page to find a downloadable set of instructions. When you click on download you should have an option to save as a PDF. That is the easiest way to save the document for future use. I would much prefer being able to upload my instructions as a PDF so I'm open for suggestions on how to do this. I've found that my formatting doesn't stay in place when I download the doc back to my Mac. Sigh. Hopefully I'll get this figured out.

rectangle 

Cutting directions are in 4” and 6” finished sizes.
Background:
     4” block            6” block
Cut 4:          1 ½ x 2 ½”           2” x  3 ½”     

Background  

Cut or find 8* 2”                  2 1/2”                

 Color 1 and  Color 2:

      Cut or Find 4* 2”                 2 1/2”

of each color

*When working with your leftover triangles you need to measure the short side of the triangle. It must be at least the measurement given.  Once the triangles have been sewn together the half square triangles units will be trimmed to the correct size.  Bigger starting triangles just means more will be trimmed away.

I sew my triangles with a scant 1/4" seam. Click on the picture to note where the 1/4" mark is on the plate. I can sometimes fudge a triangle by using a slightly smaller seam allowance and have enough to cut to the right size.

Sew the long edge of a background triangle to a color triangle making a half square

triangle.  Iron to the dark side.  Square up the square to 1 ½”  for 4” block and 2” for 6”

block (unfinished sizes.) Make 4 squares with color 1 and 4 squares with color 2.

Lay out the blocks as shown.

 

Sew into rows.

Press toward the background fabrics.

Sew the rows into the block.  I pressed the horizontal seams away from the pinwheel. 

 

If you don’t have left over triangles to make the half square triangles you can make 2 triangles from a light and dark 2” square for the 4” block and 2 ½” for the 6” block.  For a great tutorial and the “math” of half square triangles visit P.S. I Quilt blog.  I always make my units bigger and trim to the exact size I need. If 2” squares don’t give you enough room to trim, try making your blocks 2 ¼” and 2 ¾”.  Each set of squares will make 2 half square triangles.

Measure your blocks and square up to either 4 ½” or 6 ½”.  Your are done with the first block.  

Join me next Thursday for the newest Triangle Thursday post. 

Happy Quilting All! 

My Vote Is In

I voted this afternoon around 4:30.  It only took about 15 minutes which surprised me considering our township offices had a line out the door.  Evidently it was a much longer line earlier in the day -- taking an hour or so.  

I can honestly say I am so happy this election is over.  I am tired of political ads -- can't candidates say what is good about them instead of tearing down their opponent? 

On the sewing front I am almost finished cutting out a quilt. I volunteered to be a mystery quilt tester and that is what I have been cutting out. I'm calling it the bumblebee quilt because my fabric has cute little bees on it. If you want to participate in this mystery sign up for Fabricholics Annonymous on Yahoo Groups. The mystery will be presented on New Years Eve day.  

Along with the cutting, I pre-sewed a bunch of half square triangles last night by triangles-on-a-roll and then took the papers off.  I still have more to sew for the above mentioned quilt.  Do you use triangles-on-a-roll?  Shortly after they came out I bought one of each roll.  And, I still have one of each roll of both half square triangles and quarter square triangles.  I think I had to make 150+ of them so continuous paper was much faster from the sewing end. Unfortunately, I also sew them a bit big so I can trim them to the correct size.  I hear you all saying but the point of the papers is to make accurate patches with less work. Well, I'm weird. Early on I realized I could just as easily make the darn things the wrong size if I sewed too far left or right of the stitching line.  After making too many the wrong size I started sewing a smidge inside the sewing line and then trimming.  I sure get accurate blocks that way!  

So, what's your favorite half square triangle method?  I love my new QIAD triangle ruler -- it is great for squaring up when making scrap triangles. I like the triangles-on-roll papers and I even like Thangles. What I don't like is cutting triangles and then sewing them together! 

I'm back to cutting the last few squares for the bumblebee quilt. Have a great evening.  Tomorrow will be an amazing day in American history no matter who is elected.  If nothing more we Americans are turning out to the polls in record numbers.  

Happy Quilting.  Bonnie