All triangles -

Are NOT created equal - LOL - ;))

I still haven't found my mojo -

But while I was looking for it -

I ran across yet another pattern with BIAS edges all around -

And - even though I am NOT the quilt police -

And you can do as you please -

It IS one of my pet peeves -

So I thought I would post another Public Service Announcement - ;))

I know that most of my readers know that there is a difference between
HST (Half-Square Triangles) and QST (Quarter-Square Triangles) -

And they know - when used in blocks or quilts set "on-point" -

Which one goes where - and why - ;))

It all depends on which way the STRAIGHT of grain goes -

One has it on the straight sides -

One has it on the diagonal -

And which one is which depends on how you cut the original "square" -

And which triangle you get as a result - ;))

Some new quilters may not realize that there is a difference between the two -

And apparently some designers don't know and/or don't care -

I have even seen a die that has them oriented incorrectly on the "board" -

And some think that "a triangle is a triangle" -

Well - it is - but it isn't - LOL - ;))

They each serve a different purpose -

One is used for the corners -

And one is used for the side triangles -

They are NOT interchangeable -

So - this is a Public Service Announcement -

IF you find a block or pattern set on-point -

That has you cut MORE than FOUR HALF-SQUARE TRIANGLES (HST) -

For the sides and/or corners -

It will have ALL of the OUTSIDE EDGES ON THE BIAS - ;))

HOW do I know? -

Simple -

HST - Half-Square Triangles are made several ways - but the ORIGINAL way - and how it got the name - was to start with a square and cut it in HALF - by cutting diagonally ONCE from corner to corner - like this -

When you cut a square that way -

The outside edges of the CORNERS are on the STRAIGHT of grain -
And the diagonal is on the BIAS -

And you only need FOUR of them for ANY rectangular or square quilt - ;))

The pattern I saw - which I will not identify - so I do not embarrass the designer -

Said that you need FOUR triangles for the corners -

So - you were to take a square -

And cut it diagonally TWICE from corner to corner - like this -

True - you get FOUR triangles -

BUT -

When you cut a square that way - you get QST - Quarter-Square Triangles -

The outside edges of the corners are on the BIAS -
And the DIAGONAL is on the STRAIGHT of grain -

And you don't want that in the corners -

Because the outside edges will stretch out of shape -

You want those QST as the SIDE triangles -

Because the DIAGONAL is the STRAIGHT outside edge - ;))

And I don't care how BIG you make your block - or quilt -

It will NEVER have more than FOUR corners -

Assuming it's a rectangle or a square - LOL -

So you will NEVER need MORE than FOUR HST for the corners - ;))

So -

Once again -

IF you find a block or pattern set on-point -

That has you cut MORE than FOUR HALF-SQUARE TRIANGLES (HST) -

For the sides and/or corners -

It will have ALL of the OUTSIDE EDGES ON THE BIAS - ;))

If you're OK with that -

That's fine -

But I'm not - LOL -

I want my CORNER triangles to be on the STRAIGHT of grain -

I want my CORNER triangles to be HALF-SQUARE TRIANGLES - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Hoping -

To find my sewing mojo -

I pulled out these three that need labels -

Autumn Trees - on top -

Autumn Squirrel/Ugly Christmas Sweater - in the middle -

Upstairs/Downstairs - on the bottom -

And found these scraps - ;))

I have the Hearts and Scrap Cards made for the bottom two -

But still need to make them for Autumn Trees -

And then I want/need to make the Heart - Scrap Card - and Label for
Easy Street Detour Around The World -

By that time -

Maybe -

My sewing mojo will come back -

From wherever it went - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Quilted -

Easy Street Detour Around the World -

Is quilted -

Finally!! - ;))

It's actually square -

The left side is folded under because it didn't fit between the cabinets and the kitchen island -

And - because of the way I "built" it - it doesn't need binding -

And is reversible -

It has a long history - starting out as a mystery quilt - taking a detour - becoming an oversized monster - and an experiment - which actually worked - LOL -

I thought of quilting one round with curved lines about 2" apart and then going back to stitch another line between those - but - considering how long this took me to quilt - I decided to let the one round be the "only" round -

It still needs a label -

But -

I'm calling it DONE - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

More of the same -

It doesn't look that exciting -

But I AM making progress -

This is the next section that I will be playing with -

It's a corner section so I'll shift the bulk of the quilt to the left - and start at the edge on the right hand side by that orange pin moor - then follow along that curved line -

I'm getting bored with it -

And I'm losing my mojo -

That might be one reason why it's taking me so long - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Moving right along -

On the "walking foot" quilting - ;))

My Walking Foot has a notch in the back to hold a quilt "guide" -

It came with two -

One to follow the quilting line on the left -

And one to follow the quilting line on the right -

I prefer to use the one on the left -

So the bulk of the quilt keeps shifting to the left -

And not to the right -

If it shifts to the right -

It will all wind up scrunched under the throat of my sewing machine -

Which doesn't sound like a good idea to me -

But then again -

It's probably just me -

Because -

The Ultimate Quilt 'n Stitch Presser Foot - by Clover -
Available at Nancy's Notions - HERE -

Is designed that way - LOL - ;))

Anyway - it's looking good -

Even if it does seem to be stitching up -

Slower than molasses - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Slowly -

But surely -

It all comes together - ;))

I was going to mark some quilting baselines using a blue marking pen -

But then realized that they would be hard to see on a quilt this large -

So I switched and used blue painter's tape to mark my baselines -

Knowing that I probably couldn't sew many AWESOME lined-up seams - LOL -

I opted instead to lay the tape out in sweeping gently curved lines -

Making sure to stay clear of the re-pinned UNSEWN part of the AWESOME seam -

Since I don't want to get ahead of myself -

And start quilting before I stitch it closed - LOL - ;))

I'll stitch to one side or the other of the tape -

And once the baselines are stitched -

I'll remove the tape and quilt one section at a time -

Echoing the baseline with lines about two inches apart -

Then I'll go back and stitch another line down the center of the echo lines -

That somehow sounds easier than trying to stitch a line every inch or so -

And I should be able to accommodate variations in the width of the sections -

The echo lines should stabilize it quite a bit -

So that I can remove the pins as I go along -

At least that's the plan - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Sometimes -

I get ahead of myself - ;))

Promise you won't laugh -

And I'll tell you what I did - ;))

After binge watching a bunch of my Craftsy/Bluprint videos on FMQ -

I thought that - before I get too involved with my Mountain To Be Quilted -

I would get my "walking foot" project ready to go -

So I had something else to play with when I want/need a break -

I spread it out on the kitchen island -

And found two matching threads for the quilting -

A Dusty Rose -

And a Chocolate Brown -

I knew that I needed to close up the opening that I used to turn it inside out -

So I pinned it closed - trying to match the points -
With pins on either side of the point -

And one pin down the center to keep the seam together until it got stitched -

All pinned and ready to sew -

I did a single line of stitching - very close to the edge -
With Dusty Rose thread on the top -

And Chocolate Brown in the bobbin -

And I did an AWESOME job - LOL - ;))

From the back - it lined up so well that you can't tell that I couldn't see where I was sewing -

But - like I said -

I got ahead of myself -

When I spread it out to press/fuse the layers together -

I found big lumps of batting bunched up in several areas -

Note to self - Next time use a SINGLE sheet of batting -
This is NOT the place for franken-batting - LOL - ;))

I forgot that I had left that opening OPEN on purpose -

So that I could stick my arm in there to straighten out the lumpy batting -

BEFORE I stitched the opening closed -

So - I spent some time "un-sewing" some of that AWESOME seam -

Not all of it - mind you -

Just enough so that I could stick my arm in there and straighten out some parts -

Then I spread it out - again - and pressed/fused the layers together -

And pinned it to stabilize it before I take it to the sewing machine -

To RE-SEW the UN-SEWN part of that AWESOME seam - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -