I'm still working my way through this one box I pulled off my storage shelves in the sewing studio a month or two ago. The quilt that started from a few block parts that were in this box for years is ready to be sandwiched and quilted, but the sewing table is covered with triangle parts. So the quilting will have to wait a wee bit longer.
I'm not going to stop until this box is completely empty--when the contents have been converted to a bunch of finished 'somethings,' and any leftover bits are properly stored as cut-up scraps or yardage. Next up is this generous stack of sewn and partially sewn half-square triangle units (HSTs)--lots of them! From this top view, the stack doesn't look all that impressive.
Rather than make one big project like a quilt, I decided to focus on making more place mats that I can donate to a local charity by arranging the HSTs in offset patterns instead of a collection of blocks like pinwheels.
To start, I choose a consistent block color--something that's in each HST unit-- and lay those units alternately with similar, but not necessarily matched units. In this example the lavender paisley print is the consistent fabric in every other unit.
This helps with two things. As I'm constructing, it gives me a pressing direction for each row--all seams are pressed toward the paisley HST, which will allow the row seams to nest and oppose (and furl or pop) as the rows are sewn. And it also allows me to split the seam pressing direction alternately *within* each HST to reduce bulk at the intersections. HSTs with the paisley print are pressed toward the paisley or 'light' fabric, and HST's without the paisley are pressed toward the 'dark' color.
Here's a view of the back so you can see what I'm referring to. For this example (I'm up to four place mat centers, so far) the consistent alternating color is the dark purple--that's the HST unit I pressed *toward* in each row.
As you can see below, each placemat center is unique, and some have a different 'consistent' block (see the red stars, for example) throughout because of the HSTs that were left in the box. I've added scraps to use up some of the leftovers from the previous quilt project and to add some scrappy interest to the two-color/two-tone scheme.
I'm starting to get to the bottom of the HST stack so maybe, there is light at the end of this tunnel. Once all the triangles are sewn, I'm going to go back to the box or to my fabric stash to see if there might be some yardage that can be used to finish up the place mats.
I'm generating a great deal of satisfaction from emptying out this storage box to make room on my shelves at the same time that I'm using up scraps and leftovers while making something that is much more useful than a box full of bits and parts.
The original objective was to tidy up the sewing studio; I consider any additional benefit a bonus!
Happy Stitching!
Head Hummingbird
Hummingbird-Highway.com
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