en masse on occasion. For me it makes sense. The process of selecting, cutting, sewing and trimming seems much more efficient to do all at once. One time...BOOM...done!
It's a daunting process of picking the fabric and colors, but one that is the key to having a huge variety of HST's.
I mainly work with this six color combination: Yellow, Green, Pink, Blue, Orange and purple. This combination will give me all the colors I need for my baby quilts that I plan on making throughout the year.
So I cut and cut and cut! Some colors I may only have one block while others I may have five. In the end they will be paired together and give me the randomness I want.
This is the reason why I make so many HST's. As you can see I arrange the center blocks by color. Each block needs four (4) different shades of the same color. Which is why I make so many!
Once all the blocks have been cut I get the pleasure of making the pairs! I enjoy this part! It's the beginning of where the magic starts!
This part I don't enjoy quite as much! After I cut the squares I also mark the diagonal line with my Hera marker on every block. It's part of the being efficient process.
And then I sew and sew and sew! A 1/4" seam on one side of the diagonal line and then 1/4" on the other side. Over and over! I kind of get in a mental trance during this process. It's anything but exciting.
Another payoff is getting to slice the blocks in half and two identical stacks of beauty! At this point I take one stack and put it away for later in the year. The other stack is more than enough to work with now. But there is more work to be done!
Pressing. Yes, it's a necessary evil. When I press my blocks I press the seams to one side. Why you ask?!
I use one of my favorite tools the Bloc-Loc. With this ruler there is a groove on the back that locks on to the seam. It makes trimming so easy and fast! There's that efficiency part again!
And now I have something to work with!
Any guesses how many HST's I ended up with? I will say this was my biggest mass production in one sitting!
I started with 308 squares.
I made 154 block pairs.
And ended up with 308 HST's.
I might be having separation anxiety with my trimmings! You don't know how badly I want to keep these...but I won't...not this time!
While I was cutting my squares I had no idea how many I had. I was quite surprised at the final count!
You might be asking why I would make the same quilt over and over and over again. Well, it's been a very good design for me. People love it and it's the kind of quilt that will never go out of style.
Do you mass producer of a certain block for future quilts or am I just that crazy?!
LINKING:
I always love the colourful 12 square triangles you make into quilts.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a fun design where I can use all the colors in the rainbow and it doesn’t look wild!
DeleteI mass produce HSTs in anticipation of Bonnie Hunter's mysteries. She often chooses 2 1/2" or 2" HSTs. If I don't use them in her mystery, I use them in another project. You can't have too many HSTs!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that you can never have too many HST’s on hand. There are so many options with them and it seems that they will never go to waste! My blocks are massive compared to the 2-2 1/2” blocks you mass produce!
DeleteJayne! I wanted to type your name in all caps but I restrained myself. WOWEE. YOWZA. No, you are not crazy . . . as I'm looking around. I'm the crazy one. I don't do this. HAHA! Seriously, I give you big HUGE kudos for doing this all at one time. Perhaps you need one of those die cutters for the future, just to save your wrist. But I do love your quilt and how fun to be able to make several from one day's effort. One.whole.day. Those trimmings look so pretty together, don't they? I always think I should throw them in a glass jar because they make me smile. I haven't done that yet, either. {{Hugs}} I hope you hear the humor in my words! ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteFor me cutting, sewing and trimming a ton at a time is the way to go. Once they are finished it makes assembling fun and fast for whenever I decide to make a quilt. I thought about a die cutter once! But I use different size blocks all the time and if I cut myself there won’t be waste. And I also thought about putting the trimmings in a jar! I didn’t do that however. The last thing I need is more clutter in my already too small sewing room!
DeleteNope, I don't usually revisit the same pattern. But I can see how it would be a great creativity experiment. Just create the Hats and then as ideas spark you have a go to for the blocks.
ReplyDeleteNope!! No mad production here, Jayne.
ReplyDeleteI have only made one quilt pattern three times. Otherwise, I've made the same quilt pattern twice a couple of times. I never mass produce using the same fabric. It is a thought though and seems to work for you. I'm allergic to solids but I could do it in dots and stripes.
ReplyDeleteI am seriously impressed with this prodigious output! I make nine patches in batches sometimes when I want a bit of mindless sewing, but nothing on this industrial scale :)
ReplyDeleteA gorgeous group of colors. I need to do more mass cutting for my projects to save time.
ReplyDeletewow that's impressive. not something I would ever do! but kudos to you
ReplyDeleteWhat impresses me most is your wonderful use of color. I would not be a mass producer either, but sometimes I wish I had done so.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant--both the idea and the results!
ReplyDeleteYes, you're nuts. You need to be making 8 half square triangles out of each pair of squares, not 2.
ReplyDeleteThe quilt in your post is beautiful; I can see why you keep making it. Who wouldn't be thrilled to have it? Now the baby quilt creation will be nothing but fun.
So much yummy potential in those HSTs! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely project!
ReplyDelete