So what did I do with that BIG made fabric?

 I made a BIG quilt from blocks of Triangles Galore  (Victoria has a tutorial for them in her header). I loved making these blocks because I got to play with lots and lots of different fabrics, in combinations one might never expect to put together.

just a few of the Triangles Galore blocks I made..

Even though V. talks about using made fabric to make some of the small triangles in the block, I ended up NOT doing that (except for maybe four blocks).  I decided the huge variety of fabric I used in making these blocks was enough busy-ness for the center.   (By the way, I made all these blocks this past spring and they sat in the closet waiting for the next step, which I began over the recent holidays.)

I set 25 blocks (14.5 inches square each) on point.  HMMMM.  Now I needed made fabric for the corners.

And each corner measured about 51" x 51" with a diagonal of about 73".  That took some doing.

Here's a photo stream of what ensued.  Enjoy!

cleared living room.  used sticks from the basement to get an idea of size and how much made fabric I needed.

all four corners attached.  Need trimming

used lumber to check for  a straight line and stuck pins along the inside edge of the lumber.

Marking the line an old carpenter's trick.

preparing the chalk line - no chalk? no problem . I used baby powder!

holding the string steady and tight

snapped

My helpers- this was a two person project.

John - alright... now what?

Poppy - who herds us everywhere

trimming

VOILA!

this gives you a feel for the size

outside picture

One final note.  With made fabric pieces going every which way, there are inevitably bias edges along the outside edge.  To minimize stretching, I sewed rickrack along the edge edge. When I ran out of rickrack, I realized that I have strips of selvedge that I saved to tie packages, so I sewed that to the remaining edges. Sorry, I don't have a picture.  These are temporary stabilizers until this baby is quilted and bound.... hmmm.  Should I hand quilt this???? I'm tempted!  I'm also a wee bit crazy!

I'd like to thank V I C T O R I A!  None of this would have happened without her influences.

A little coloring helps a lot

As many of you know, I've been playing with the triangle galore block for ages. Sometimes I find that what appears distinctive up close can get lost from the distance,  even something "big" like a 4.5 inch triangle. The problem is that the values of adjacent fabric are too similar and swallow the one that is supposed to stand out.  This time I didn't scrutinize the color combo from a distance, or even squint at it. Consequently, I fell into that trap.

Normally, I would resort to the seam ripper and remove the weak triangle and insert one of a stronger color.  But. sometimes I'm lazy.  I certainly didn't want to deal with the "right way" this time.  The lost triangle was one of the two first to be sewn in the sequence, which meant the whole block would have to be torn apart.

Crayons to the rescue!  Years ago, I took part in an informal lesson where we colored quilt blocks with good ol' Crayola crayons.  (Not the washable kind) .  The crayon color can be set with heat and it works especially well with light fabrics.  So I dug out my box of crayons, found a color I liked and colored.  I placed a piece of sand paper under the triangle to stabilize it and also to help the crayon rub more strongly.

Then I placed paper towel over the triangles and pressed it with a hot iron.  The wax is absorbed by the towel and the color is left on the fabric.

Ahh.  Much better,  This is not my favorite block in the series, but it will work.

P is for...

Progress # 1

The wedding quilt top is coming along.  I've made three more "blocks" since my last post.  Five more to go and I should be able to start cobbling this baby together.  As I begin to see the end of the project, I have to remind myself that no matter what... it will take time.  The last laps seem to take the longest;  I've never run track, but I imagine that it sometimes feels that way.

(Teotihuacan- Pyramid of the Sun)

mosaics - note the diamond

Progress #2


The triangles galore quilt now numbers 21 bocks.  I'm shooting for 35! I'm gonna run out of room on the design wall.

Parts


Quilt "parts" are one of the ideas that Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran have advocated in their books, Collaborative Quilting and Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again.  They found that making basic pieces such as HST's or nine patches, or piano keys, or spikes, in advance of their meetings made the designing process a lot more efficient. Each of them put together a stash of parts using their scraps and with no set quilt pattern in mind.

I've been making parts, too. I have no set plans for them, but I know I'll use them somehow, someday.    I always sew together HST's of the cut off triangles from the corners of flying geese or snowballs (even if they are tiny).  I sew together elongated triangles left over from the Triangle Galore project which will make skinny spikes or divided rectangles. I sew these pieces together in the Leader and Ender style of Bonnie Hunter... I have a stash of pieces by my sewing machine.  As I start a series of sewing, I will begin the process with one set of the parts and then when I come to the end of the project, I'll sew another together.  These leaders and enders take the place of the bit of scrap that is often used at the start of a seam so that fabric and thread don't make an annoying birds nest or jam into the "hole" in the machine.  (Sometimes I forget which project I am really working on and end up sewing several parts in a row before I remember they are supposed to be the leader and ender.  LOL)   Here's just a wee handful of my parts.  Those HST's measure 1.75 inches square.

Play


The Bloggers BOM for this month was designed by Amy of Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts.
These are my four blocks.

The New'Bee made-fabric bee over on 15minutes play.com... Beebee asked for this star of made fabric and a bright solid around it.  The solid fabric is really a lot brighter than it appears here.  My made fabric was made from tiny scraps, so there is lots of variety.

Parcel


Look what arrived in the mail all of 40 minutes ago!  Gwen's newest book!  Published by AQS.

It is FABULOUS.  No matter what your quilting style is -  modern, traditional, scrappy, applique, wonky, liberated, amish solids- there is something of interest in this book.   It holds lots of fun and inspiration and how-to hints!  Gwen shares the spotlight with a number of BIQR students.   I highly recommend this book.  I'm looking forward to taking a really good look at all the quilts.  I'm going to Gwen's retreat in October and Liberated Medallions is the focus.  So excited!

Possibilities.....

Growing a big quilt takes time, especially when one is faced with seemingly endless possibilities in terms of fabric selection.  Yes,  I am stuck on triangles galore (see earlier posts).  I have sewn 11 blocks (12.5 inch blocks).











I have cut the triangles for 14 more blocks.  (I cut two more after taking the picture)

I'll probably aim to cut an additional 10 - 12 blocks before I call it big enough. (Some of the blocks will be pillows.)












At one end of my table I have some the fabric pulled from my stash as possibilities.

At the other end I have already cut triangles waiting to be put together in whatever magic combination I conjure up.

I am trying hard to keep the pattern of strong radiating points against a light background, while the center triangles contrast with each other.  I am also trying to put together oddball  unique fabric combinations to make close-up viewing interesting.   Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

I suppose I could use excess triangles in a thousand pyramid quilt... more possibilities... hmmm.

That's not all I have been doing.  This canvas tote bag holds the fabrics I have selected as possibilities in the wedding quilt I am making.

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A block for this quilt is about 16" x 24".  Each block is different. I have 15 blocks to make.  I've done 4.   Nine more to go.  Here's a sneak peek of an almost finished block.

I've set a goal of finishing the piecing of this quilt by June.  Guess you could say I've got my work cut out!

More play - triangles galore

It's the weekend, right?  Time to play.  All work and no play could make quilting a dull hobby.  Consequently I play a lot. It doesn't have to be a weekend either.

Victoria of Bumblebeans, Inc. and www.15minutesplay.com posted a tutorial called Triangles Galore.  This block is beautiful.  It offers a lot possibilities for different fabrics and different colors, and for experimenting with seldom used palettes.   I decided to try it.

My first effort was full of 'troubles'.  The center ballooned.  Triangles will do that to you with the bias edges and all.  I did a lot of unsewing and resewing.  That is a no-no.  More stretching of the fabric.  In the end I TRIMMED the large wedges to size and sewed them up.  Trimming worked to make the block (sort of) but, it isn't the right way, and triangle points didn't meet where they should.

My second effort turned out much better.  I figured out that I shouldn't match the points of the triangles, but off set them slightly by matching and pinning at the intersections of the seams.  Now, this is a BASIC piecing step that I know, but always forget especially when machine piecing. Maybe I have learned it now.  Anyway, no ballooning this time.  No need to trim anything down, and the triangle points met as they were supposed to.

Now that I have the technique down, I am going to be making more of this block.
Time to go play with  more colors and fabrics.  See ya later!