2017 Triangle Gatherings, Switching Gears

You all know that I have been enjoying the 2017 Triangle Gatherings Sew Along.  This sew along is hosted by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings and features a couple of blocks each week that are each made up of 16 half square triangles arranged in various  ways to create different looking blocks. I had actually made a similar quilt for my son in law a year or so ago.

This quilt had 25 blocks all made from half square triangle units, arranged to make completely different looking blocks.  It is a pretty quilt, but I felt challenged to come up with a setting that would mark the uniqueness of the blocks, but have some continuity.  You could end up with a big old confusing mess I think.  It is a common hazard with any sort of sampler quilt.  You need to figure out how to make the unique blocks somewhat cohesive. In this case, I just spaced them well apart.

I began making the 2017 triangle blocks, because it was fun, and thinking that I would come up with some kind of clever setting.  It was vey much the same process that I used when I made my son in law's quilt.  Supposedly, Lisa will come up with over 80 ways to arrange 16 half square triangle blocks!

To date, I have made 36 different blocks (not all shown in this photo).  I love them, but they are sort of busy.  Right?  How to tame these little guys down?

Well, I got a great idea on Facebook, which I posted about yesterday.  Why not surround the blocks with star points?  That is a great idea, but with the 6 1/2" blocks I chose to make, it would be a quilt that could double as a circus tent.  Way too big. By the time I added the star points to these 6 1/2" blocks, the finished block would be 12 1/2" square.  Times 80?  Oh my, no.

So I started experimenting, making the half square triangle block smaller.

This is the same block, believe it or not.  Block Number 1 of the 2017 Triangle Gatherings Sew Along.  The one on the left is 6 1/2" square.  The one on the right is 4 1/2", surrounded by star points, and finishing at 8 1/2 inches.  I think making the center block smaller and featuring it as the center of a star will lessen the busy-ness of the blocks when they are massed together in a quilt top.

I also experimented with making the center block 3 inches finished and surrounding it with star points, which made a finished block of 6 1/2", but found the tiny size a bit fussy to work with.  A 4 1/2" block with sixteen half square triangle units is plenty small enough, believe me.

So, for now, I am pretty excited.  I will take a break from my blue and white 6 1/2" blocks.  I will use those 36 blocks I have made so far (and perhaps more if needed) to make a great looking quilt, but I have decided to continue with this sew along with a slightly different plan. 

I pulled some fabrics from my stash, and am going to make the future 2017 Triangle Gatherings blocks smaller–4 1/2", and surround them with star points (four 2 1/2 x 4 1/2' flying geese units and four 2 1/2"corner squares). These blocks finish at 8 1/2" once the star points are added.   I am thinking of a diagonal set, with either an alternate block or a lattice.  My background print is an old one I had from Primitive Gatherings, featuring a black figure on mottled cream.  The other fabrics are from older collections of Primitive Gatherings, Jo Morton, Pam Buda and others.  The block colors are teal, gold, red and black.  I am going for a kind of country/calico vibe.

My inspiration for this change of plan was a Facebook post by Leanne Malzewski.  But Tracey, a loyal reader, alerted me to the fact that Lisa Bongean herself is choosing to surround her Moda BlockHead blocks (another popular currant sew along) with star points in much the same way.  So, not an original idea by any means, but oh so clever.  It's a great idea guys; file it away for the future. 

 

I'll end up with two different quilts from this project, and that can't be bad!  At any rate, watch my progress here, and see what we end up with.  I've probably used way too many words here to describe my train of thought on this subject, but I like to give you guys the details as to why I make the decisions I do.