Still snow out on the porch, so this is as much fit as I could photograph.
Wow. How did that happen? I was going to post again “in a few days” and almost 2 weeks flew by?
I’m still coughing, but more in a general “let’s get this illness over with” kind of way. I feel fine, though, and I doubt I’m contagious.
And, yes, I did finish the Tribute to MaryEllen Hopkins quilt top. I only was able to take a picture of half of it, though.
I have been using some of my string piecing scraps to make blocks for V is for Victory.
That, of course, means that I have finished my current piecing project and I need to start another one. In this case, I had to decide between one of three. The first one is V is for Victory.
I just couldn’t help myself. I’ve been trying to give my friends hints on how to make this quilt for a while now meaning to pull them all together in one file and publish it on the Chelmsford Quilters’ Guild web site, but things keep getting in my way.
Anyway, I won’t be making the entire big quilt. Mine will only be 80 blocks… a lap size (unless I run amok with the borders…)
But, in case you have been wondering, here is one last piece to the puzzle of how to make that quilt.
There are plenty of places to learn how to put together a quilt with the blocks on point (I rather like this one by McCall’s) so I’m not going to go over the details in this post.
The corner triangles for V is for Victory are made from two 4″ triangles cut on the diagonal (this will keep the on-grain edges on the corners.) Yes, no matter how big you plan on making this quilt, you only need 4 of these.
(Truthfully, I usually cut mine a tiny bit bigger. I cut my corners at 5″ and line up the center of them with the center of the block when I sew.)
Cut a 45 degree triangle off the edge of the strip to start.
For the edges, you can cut a 7″ square and cut both diagonals, leaving one side on the grain and two (smaller) sides on the bias.
I. however, cut strips of 3.5″ and cut my QSTs that way.
First, cut off one corner at 45 degrees (this one won’t be used in this project so put it somewhere you won’t confuse yourself with it.)
The 45 degree angle on your ruler aligns with the top of your strip, and the “horizontal”lines of your ruler align with the cut edge.
Then cut your first QST out of the strip by using the 45 degree line on your ruler placed on one edge of the strip.
Slide the 45 degree line until the edge you use to cut with is exactly a 90 degree angle with the previously cut edge.
For this example, the point under the ruler will be at the 5″ line. (This will not always be the case!)
Keep alternating 45 degree angles (I usually just flip the fabric), until the strip has been cut (or you have enough.)
This 4.5″ block will match the corner triangle if I trim one of the bias sides to 4.5″ as well.
Another trick I use when I start sewing on the setting triangles, is to clip off one of the corners so the sides you are sewing together match exactly.
You really only need to trim one corner because when you sew the rows together you are matching something else entirely.
When you sew the corners on, you can also trim them, but I only do that on two of them. (The ones you are sewing into rows.)
To do that, fold the corner triangle in half, and trim TWO corners off at the same time by using half the size of the UNFINISHED block. This will make it easy to align the corner triangle to the block.
The corners you sew on last will be easier to align without trimming at all. Just fold them in half and align the center of the triangle with the center of the square.
If you have any questions, just put them in the comments or send me email. I know I sped through the process, but that’s because it’s covered in depth and very well elsewhere.
