Monday, October 26, 2020

Clouds on my Sunshine




I was trimming the Half Square Triangles yet again for the Sunshine in Winter quilt. Yes, again. No, there aren't that many HSTs. It is amazing how long something takes when you really don't want to do it. I wondered why I would ever sign up for a quilt that took so many half square triangles.  I knew that I planned to cut the right size to avoid having to trim, but that wasn't enough to ignite my enthusiasm for this project. I thought about making something with these HSTs and giving up on the quilt.

Then I wondered if I was following the pattern correctly.

 

I studied the pictures I had for the quilt, and it looks like maybe I am making them wrong.  The block on the top left corner in the picture look like they have a light and a dark square with the HSTs in the four patch.  Mine have the same color square in each four patch.  I studied the pattern, and yes it says to make eight at a time HSTs, and yes the same color square. I have been following the directions correctly.

I studied the blogs that led me down this rabbit hole and Sally makes her blocks completely differently. That explains why I signed on to make this project.  Her method doesn't require me to make any HSTs.  Hers have a dark and a light square in each block.  The quilt is very similar. If you don't look at the first column of squares, the end result looks exactly the same. Sally mentioned a sashing strip, so maybe she made up for that missing column.

I will study that when the time comes. I have loose HSTs I can use for sashing if I need them.


I've finished the rest of the HSTs that were still under the needle, and started making the blocks her way.  This  method lends itself much better to assembly line, the fifteen minutes at a time, sewing and pressing, subcutting, marking a line and sewing again. It doesn't have the aggravating HST to make or trim.  I haven't made the final block yet, so I will reserve judgement on whether I will continue on with this quilt, or just make something with the blocks I do have. [Edited, I made the two blocks I showed above since I first posted it. I will have to sew carefully to get the sharp points, but I'm not going to worry too much if all the points aren't sharp.]

I have a lot of yellow fabric and would like to make the pattern as intended (with fewer blocks to make a wall hanging instead of a bed quilt). So far, it does look like I will be able to persevere.


2020:  Weeks 43 of 15 Minutes to Stitch



I spent my week trimming HSTs, making the rest of the HSTs that were under the needle and making a good start of my sample blocks using the new method.


15 minute days this week -- 7 out of 7
15 minute days this year -- 245 out of 299 days
Success rate  = 82%

Linked with 

15 Minutes to Stitch

Design Wall Monday 

Oh Scrap!

 

6 comments:

Fiona said...

Trimming HST's is a bit tedious but worth it I think for a better result...
Hugz

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

I've taken to using the Tucker Trimmer tool for HST accuracy and have never looked back. The downside, though: it takes longer! Yours is going to be so sunshine-y and happy, you can't go wrong with a monochromatic color scheme and your yellow is very, very cheerful!

Judy Hansen said...

Hi Shasta, This is a great post - there are often several completely different ways to make blocks that leave you with the same results. Now you have me interested in making this quilt. I would use the hsts method mainly because I have a shoebox full of hsts to start with. What size is the finished block.? I searched the internet to find the pattern, but the page with the free pattern is no longer a viable page. I can make. a similar quilt using just the picture as a guide if you don’t know where the pattern is. Sound like you are working from pictures too.

Kate said...

Looks like your pile of mini blocks growing quickly. Hopefully the blocks will go together quicker this week.

Tanya said...

I've learned the hard way that trimming is the only way to go for me. I still can't decide if my eye is bad at cutting or if my sewing machine foot isn't a true quarter inch. Sometimes I just have to readjust and accept that my quilt is going to be overall smaller than I'd planned (that works when there aren't too many pieces...)

Cathy said...

Haha! I didn't know you were making a partial "Demented" quilt. I never could understand how Sally made her blocks. I cut my HSTs with an Easy Angle ruler and then didn't have to trim anything but a dog ear. Sounds like you figured out Sally's method. Now have fun!