When you make "quick corners" (on snowball blocks or flying geese, for example), do you save the trimmed off triangle pairs? Unless they're really tiny, I can't bear to throw them out, but they just sit in piles. And piles. And piles.
So when Bobbie from Geeky Bobbin posted about her UFOvember plan, I knew it was time to pull out a pile of those neglected triangle pairs and rework them into a finished project! I even had the perfect time to work on it--our fall Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild retreat!
I grabbed the leftover triangles from my Opposite Directions baby quilt (shown below) with a very loose plan in mind. Because the original quilt measured just 39" x 51", I knew I'd need to supplement with additional fabric to make another baby quilt.
These leftover fabric triangles from my quilt are from Art Gallery Fabrics' Pine Lullaby Rediscovered collection, plus two colors of Pure Solids.
First:
Make HSTs. I chain piece these, which speeds the process along. Head over to IG and see my reel showing how I sew these as efficiently as possible.
**One tip for chain piecing (and not just HSTs): Use your seam ripper to cut apart the threads between each stitched unit. Faster and easier than scissors!**
Then I trim them to a specific size. I find that it's easier to go slightly smaller with these HSTs made from loose triangles; that way you don't have to worry if your stretchy long triangle edges match up perfectly because you've got more wiggle room for trimming.
Second:
Play around with layouts. I had leftover fabric from this quilt that I loved, so I knew I wanted to work it in (which also would allow me to make a larger quilt!). I started out by laying out all my HSTs just to get a visual on the size I was starting with (not very big, in this case...these HSTs are 2.5" square, so right here I' looking at approximately 22" x 34").
Then I switched to experimenting with layouts on the computer, because for me, it's faster. And I was on a mission to get this quilt done during my retreat! :)
My Design Ideas
1. This was my original idea. Those adorable critter heads were the backing fabric for my original quilt, and I thought it would be fun to fussy cut them and randomly insert larger squares into my HST pattern.
But...it needed borders to be bigger, and I didn't have enough fabric for borders. Let's keep looking.
2. I'd also been thinking stars, making the HSTs into a scrappy low volume background, and still using the critter focal squares. I like this, but honestly, it was more work than I wanted to do. I wanted simple and striking.
3. Here's a star variation where the stars don't pop- using just HSTs and critter focal squares. I liked this design s as well, but that first design kept tugging on me.
4. Ultimately, here's where I ended up - with my original design, but using leftovers of the white/black prints for the focal squares so I could use the critter fabric for a border. A good compromise, I think!
Third:
Start sewing! Since I was at a quilt retreat, I focused and stitched, and assembled this quilt over a two-day period. I joined HSTs into pieced sections around the focal squares, and then into larger rows.
The finished quilt top:
Fourth:
Bask in the great feeling that you used up some long-neglected triangles and created a quilt top. Now it's time to quilt and bind it before it lingers in a different UFO pile! :)
And bonus - I'll be saving those rejected layout ideas for future HST project finishes!
Looking for more UFOvember inspiration? Check out a full month's worth of ideas!
November 1 - The Geeky Bobbin - http://geekybobbin.com
November 2 - Strawberry Creek Quilts - http://www.strawberrycreekquilts.com
November 3 - Katie Mae Quilts - http://katiemaequilts.com
November 4 - Pretty Piney Quilts - https://prettypiney.com/blog
November 5 - Mary Go Round Quilts - http://www.marygoroundquilts.com
November 6 - Exhausted Octopus - https://exhaustedoctopus.com/blog/
November 7 - Just Get It Done Quilts - https://www.justgetitdonequilts.com/blog
November 8 - By Hilary Jordan - https://byhilaryjordan.com/
November 9 - Sew Hooked on Treasures - http://sewhookedontreasures.com
November 10 - Sunflower Stitcheries and Quilting - http://www.sunflowerstitcheries.com
November 11 - Blue Heron Quilting - https://www.blueheronquilting.shop/blog
November 12 - Carrington Creates - https://cbear7774.wixsite.com/thatsthewayitseams
November 13 - Sarah Goer Quilts - https://www.sarahgoerquilts.com
November 14 - Better Done Quilts - https://betterdonequilts.com/
November 15 - Ashli Montgomery | Virginia'dele Smith - http://www.meandcoach.com
November 16 - Puppy Girl Designs - http://puppygirldesigns.com
November 17 - Lovingly, Lissa - http://lovinglylissa.com
November 18 - Art East Quilting Co - http://www.arteastquiltingco.com
November 19 - rjbosscher - http://www.rjbosscher.com
November 20 - Love to Color My World - http://lovetocolormyworld.blogspot.com/
November 21 - LynsAvenue - http://lynsavenue.com
November 22 - Quiltfox Design - https://www.quiltfox-design.com
November 23 - Maeberry Square - https://www.maeberrysquare.com
November 24 - Karen Bolan Designs - https://www.karenbolan.com/blog
November 25 - Tina1802 - http://www.tina1802.com
November 26 - Lazy Cozy Quilts - http://www.lazycozyquilts.com
November 27 - True Blue Quilts - http://www.truebluequilts.com
November 28 - The Scrappy Camper - http://www.thescrappycamper.com
November 29 - Sarah Ruiz Quilts - http://sarahruiz.com
November 30 - Lyric Art - http://LyricKinard.com
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