I have stacks of the leader/ender triangles done. Last weekend, I pressed and cut them to size, and finally it was time to play. (Now that I have finished playing with the triangles, the design wall has to come down. The painters are coming…)
I know that many of you who read my blog are not quilters, so I though a little lesson was in order, and if you are new to quilting, perhaps you will enjoy this as well. If I make a quilt using just one shape, it will be called a charm or one block quilt. Many quilters pooh-pooh this sort of simplicity, but wait until you see what these simple shapes can do. Let’s look at some common charm or one square patterns.
These pieces are made up of equilateral triangles. Remember Sophomore Year geometry with Miss Detweiler? If so, then you know that these triangles measure the same on each side.
Back to geometry class, can you see that these shapes are 60 degree triangles? This pattern is called tumbling blocks or baby blocks. They are such fun to play with; to form a block you sew a light a medium and a dark piece together and you get this 3D illusion.
I call this shape swirling stars and it’s the curvaceous relative of a baby block. Look at the baby block above – can you see where six 60 degree pieces intersect? So these pieces can make the same shapes as their straight-laced cousin.
Here is my favorite shape – a hexagon. Not only does its six-sided shape make many, many lovely designs, it can be divided in half, in thirds and even in sixths, if you want to do some really nasty piecing.
If you are interested in starting a charm quilt, Pat Yamin has loads of templates for all of these fun shapes and more.
Please stop by next Friday to see some of what the humble half square triangles can do! It’s quite amazing.
What a great blog post! I hope you have inspired many people who have not yet discovered how fantastic this craft is, to start! I look forward to seeing your leaders and enders result! – Suzy
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Thanks! I had such fun playing with all those triangles. My husband came into the studio every hour or so to see what new design was appearing!
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I agree with Suzy, that’s a great blog post! I love simple quilts made from one shape. Because then it’s really about color and color is so much fun to play with. Lovely color choices.
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You are obviously all about the color as I am. In both weaving and quilting, it’s a wonder to see what colors do when pieced or woven together. Never a dull moment, right? ;-D
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