Sunday, September 30, 2012

Sunday Serendipity – From Squares to Triangles

There were still some nifty things to be done with squares, so I continued working through that section.

P9300001 I wanted to try this “sunflower” pattern (after all, I DO live in Kansas!) which uses two sizes of square inserts.  The instructions call for marking lines at 22.5 degrees.  Huh?  So, I started thinking and realized that half of 45 is 22.5.  So after folding and creasing horizontal, vertical, and both diagonals, I creased again halfway between each of those.  Granted, it’s not as easy as folding in half, but still much easier than trying to read half a degree on a protractor!!!

I was stitching along, feeling pretty clever, when my subconscious started asking embarrassing questions – like, “What’s with this raw edge here?” and “When the book says to construct a square insert, maybe it implies more than just folding it in half?”  Oh.  This is why my seam ripper is such a close friend!

After a slight detour.

P9300002The squares inserted and opened out into diamonds.  Kind of messy in the center, but that’s easily remedied.

P9300003I just covered it up!  I’m leaving this like it is for now.  I really like the way those petals lift away from the background.  I need to think about how to secure the diamonds without tacking the tips down.

P9300004Moving on to triangles!  This time I started with a right triangle and I cut equilateral triangles to make a hexagon background.  Same method otherwise – fold, stitch, insert.

P9300005But the shape when you open the inserts is a bit different.  An inserted square opens to form a shape longer than the inserted seam, while an inserted triangle does not.  Does that make sense?

In the above photo, I rolled the long edge on three of the inserts.  Once again, the center is messy and I’ve already made one fabric disc.

P9300006 How about beads!  Not as elaborate as last week (the faeries didn’t show up this time!), but a nice way to finish off the block anyway.  I’m beginning to see how some of these shapes can be combined to make a larger project.  Perhaps I’ll try some of that in the future.

Speaking of the future – I’m going to be out of town this coming week.  Although I expect to be home next Sunday, I expect to be pretty exhausted!  So, there won’t be a Serendipity post next week.  But we’ll pick up here the following week, so be sure to stop by.  See you then!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am tempted to get out my samples of folded squares etc and playing some more while you are otherwise engaged! Some more beautiful saples today.

Judy B