Spring Break Project
I have a new Spring Break Project!!! It's from McCall's Quilting Magazine Feb. 2006 issue. The quilt is called Art Affair:
In the original pattern each block is about 12" wide, which is way too big for my purposes. I just want a wall quilt to put over my couch, so I don't want anything as big as that. That means I have a lot of math to figure out, but basically, if I make the quilt with 6" blocks than my quilt should be about the right size. The original quilt is 68"x68" so half of that is 34"x34" or about a yard square.
I like this pattern because I can make it from my stash, and it's simple. Or at least it looks simple. With all of those triangle points and lines to match up, I'm wondering. There was a lady that used to visit mom's shop who is something of a perfectionist. She always makes her half-square triangles too big and then cut them down. That way she knows that each half-square triangle comes out just right. So if a pattern calls for 3 1/2 inch hs-triangles, usually you'd cut 3 7/8 inch squares. What she does instead is round up to 4 inches for the squares or strips that she is working from. Once she has sewn the triangles together, she trims the squares down, checking on her ruler that the center seam is exactly in the middle, to a perfect 3 1/2 inch square. That is a lot of extra work if you're making hundreds of hs-triangles, but for this quilt, I think that may be my best bet. I don't want to tear my hair out because my hs-triangles aren't as perfectly straight as they ought to be.
I bet it would be easier to make two identical quilts than to just make the one. I hate sewing triangles together at the bias. I could make the half-square triangles from a whole square rather than from triangles. Then I'd have two of each, which, going from the pattern, I don't need. I wonder...maybe I could make it reversible? I could do one side just like the pattern (which I love!), and then use the extra half-square triangles to make a new design on the back? I wonder what design I could make with them?
I'm still in the early stages of planning this....I need to really think this out. Spring Break isn't until the week of March 13th, so I have two weeks to plan and do the math.
My stash has been at my sister's house, and I'm so glad to finally have it with me! I didn't think I would miss it as much as I have, since I brought several projects with me. But I love those little independent pieces of fabric that float around in my stash until I find a home for them in some little quilt somewhere.
In the original pattern each block is about 12" wide, which is way too big for my purposes. I just want a wall quilt to put over my couch, so I don't want anything as big as that. That means I have a lot of math to figure out, but basically, if I make the quilt with 6" blocks than my quilt should be about the right size. The original quilt is 68"x68" so half of that is 34"x34" or about a yard square.
I like this pattern because I can make it from my stash, and it's simple. Or at least it looks simple. With all of those triangle points and lines to match up, I'm wondering. There was a lady that used to visit mom's shop who is something of a perfectionist. She always makes her half-square triangles too big and then cut them down. That way she knows that each half-square triangle comes out just right. So if a pattern calls for 3 1/2 inch hs-triangles, usually you'd cut 3 7/8 inch squares. What she does instead is round up to 4 inches for the squares or strips that she is working from. Once she has sewn the triangles together, she trims the squares down, checking on her ruler that the center seam is exactly in the middle, to a perfect 3 1/2 inch square. That is a lot of extra work if you're making hundreds of hs-triangles, but for this quilt, I think that may be my best bet. I don't want to tear my hair out because my hs-triangles aren't as perfectly straight as they ought to be.
I bet it would be easier to make two identical quilts than to just make the one. I hate sewing triangles together at the bias. I could make the half-square triangles from a whole square rather than from triangles. Then I'd have two of each, which, going from the pattern, I don't need. I wonder...maybe I could make it reversible? I could do one side just like the pattern (which I love!), and then use the extra half-square triangles to make a new design on the back? I wonder what design I could make with them?
I'm still in the early stages of planning this....I need to really think this out. Spring Break isn't until the week of March 13th, so I have two weeks to plan and do the math.
My stash has been at my sister's house, and I'm so glad to finally have it with me! I didn't think I would miss it as much as I have, since I brought several projects with me. But I love those little independent pieces of fabric that float around in my stash until I find a home for them in some little quilt somewhere.
posted by LNLisa at 8:24 AM
4 Comments:
Consider using "Triangles on a Roll" or some similar product to make that half square triangle job easier OR check out this website for shortcut instructions (nothing to buy):
http://quilting.about.com/library/weekly/aa022298.htm
Jen
Hi scrapmaker!
Since I will only need one of each half-square triangles, and especially since some of them are the really complicated kind, I think I'm stuck making the squares and cutting them down. Thanks though for the suggestion!
Usually I like Thangles and Triangles on a Roll. They help enormously!
Cutting the HST down isn't really that big a deal. That's what I do when it's important that they're right. Be sure that the diagonal line on the ruler lines up with the diagonal seam when you cut. (Maybe you said that, but I read it fast.) Personally, my philosophy is that it's good to make these the hard way, because that's the only way you get better at it. :)
I love that quilt pattern. Good luck.
I do my triangles - by trimming down...
Thangles would be a good option too.
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