Another twist

Three things to be happy about:
(1) eggs scrambled with that substitute crabmeat stuff
(2) a matter of no importance
(3) spontaneous road trips

Well!  After a breffus of scrambled egg substitute and other substitute stuff, I went with Charlene and Pat to the new Costco in Wheaton Plaza (Maryland).  We missed the grand opening, and I wanted to check it out just because, so we went.  I didn't get a photo but it's a nice store, plenty of parking, and you access it from a mall entrance.  I had to go right in and check out the new ladies room (don't ask) while Pat and Charlene bought cards at the card store across from the entrance - different and handy!  It was a bit crowded - why are there so many people out wandering around on a Monday morning - don't they have to be at work??!

Whatever.

I woke a bit early yesterday morning and started thinking about the cut along I posted about, and how I was making even more scraps and crumbs every time I cut my shapes from the large scraps! 

Then I said - hey!  That star Rosa made is very pretty, why don't I make some scrap yardage and cut a few triangles from that too??!

Just to test out my theory, I made a couple big pieces and layered them with a light background fabric and cut them using the 6-1/2" die...

Here are a few layouts... I'm not so sure.  I only made four pieces and it's a bit hard to see what they'll really look like, but one question I'm asking is do I want to use that light background or should I go with something a bit darker or brighter (like red or gold)?  Definitely I should use something that reads as solid, a medium or large pattern would kill the design!

And another thing I need to be aware of is the size of the scraps - see that blue strip and the brown one?  They really stand out and could potentially change the shape of the block! 

I'm also wondering if I should try using a smaller HST die - I have a 4-1/2" that's part of a "value die" (three shapes on one die) and there's a 3-1/2", but if I use either of those the scraps need to be smaller.

Something to think about!  I need to think quickly because if I want to invest in another die right now, Joann's has them at 40% off until May 4th. 

Have a great day, sew forth and sew on til later!

Mail call, testing HST blocks

Three things to be happy about:
(1) April fool jokes
(2) flower shop windows
(3) an audition that goes well

I love receiving packages in the mail!  I was a winner on Char's blog hop giveaway and it came Saturday afternoon, yes!  Lots of good stuff was in the envelope - Utility Quilting  by Carolyn Forster, a pincushion and a dish cloth (made by Char herself!), a collection of 6” charms, and two skeins of DMC perle cotton.  Thanks, Char!!

My half square triangles look very promising!  I saw in the front of my Spectactular Scraps book that the authors show all 256 four-patch triangle blocks, and they credit the concept to a French monk, Dominique Douat, 1704.  Evidently he was into mathematics in decorative patterns; I wonder if he was a quilter?  Whatever.

In the book the authors made quilts using several layouts that they identified by number; I sewed together a few patches to see how they look - this is block #1 in the book:

and here are two layouts using that block:

In one layout the yellow stripe will stand out, the red stripe in the other one.

And here's their block #5:

I laid out a sample block; each layout has four of the blocks put together:

I like this one!  I can see that I'll need to cut a bigger variety of fabrics though.

Block #6:

And here's my layout:

this one's okay, but for all of these I can't really be sure what they look like til I add more blocks.  

I can start with the basic 4-patch block and mirror image the one next to it, or rotate the units right or left. It's easy to play with these on my design wall, I can see lots of fun ahead! 

That's it for now; have a great Monday, sew forth and sew on...