Trigangle Try-Out

When I first decided to use my Accuquilt equilateral triangle die for the Triangle Tricks challenge, I knew I should probably make a test project.  I wasn't sure how the seams would nest or how to finish the edges and I didn't want to practice with such an important project.  The die is a great size to use with 5" charm squares, so I dug out a charm pack of Flour Garden by Linzee Kull McCray that I won a few years ago.  I ran the charm pack through the Accuquilt cutter and randomly sewed triangles together.  

It's not particularly big, but it gave me a good chance to test it out and use up some fabric I've had for a while. And since it's fabric I've had for a while, this qualifies for my version of Gail's PhD challenge--while Gail's focus is on Projects Half Done, I am also focusing on using up fabric I've had for a while.  It helps that after doing the PhD challenge for several years, I don't have a lot of UFOs left, but the fabric supply feels like it never depletes at all 😀

Red Nine Patch

My friend Wendy from Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life and I have been doing low-key sew-alongs together for a while now.  This time, we decided to pick a pattern from Cheryl Brickey's book Just One Charm Pack, since we both owned the book.  There are so many great patterns in this book!  We picked Nine Patch Challenge.

 

I've been working on making quilts for Fire Monkey's teachers and I only have their favorite color to go on. Mr. S, the dance teacher, likes red.  (Dance is one of the specials at our school, along with the more common art, music, PE, and library.)  Surprisingly, I don't have much red, but I did have a 2-yard cut of Island Batik's Imperial.  The yellows are scrappy but everything else doesn't change from block to block. While Cheryl's Nine Patch is much scrappier-looking, it worked to have a bit more of a standard palette.  

 

All fabrics are Island Batik. Mine is a bit bigger than the pattern, and I used yardage and scraps instead of a charm pack. I quilted it in what I think of as "Preeti Quilting" meaning wavy line stitch in a grid, a motif that the amazing Preeti uses a lot and it always looks great.  

While we chose the quilt together, Wendy & I worked at our own pace.  I know her top is completed but I don't believe she has shared hers yet.  I am working on a second version of this pattern because I do think it sings when there are more fabrics in the 9-patches.  The second version will be rainbow-ish!

 

Hexagon baby quilt

I have a colleague who recently had a baby boy.  I have made a baby quilt for every born of the library staff at work since starting this job in 2015.  I don't know this colleague very well as they are mostly at a different location, so I didn't have a lot of information to go on.  I had a really fun tractor print that I bought several years ago hoping to use for an I Spy swap, but then realized would have to be fussy cut and set it aside.  

This seemed like the perfect time to use it!  I recently got the Accuquilt large hexagon die that is compatible with the equilateral triangle die I already had.  I used Kona Rick Red for the triangles.  I didn't have enough to bind in red, so I used bright blue Kona Pacific instead.  The back is a fun cow print.  

I had to kind of think about how the rows went together and how to make sure the tractors were all in the correct orientation, but I do think this design and die work really well to showcase a larger-scale print.  It would also work well on a layer cake.  It's simple and it's fairly small, but I'm pleased with how it came out.

Totally Triangles

May's Island Batik challenge is to play with triangles.  I knew from the moment I read the brief that
I would use Accuquilt’s equilateral triangle die, which I had from Christmas several years ago but
had never used.  The timing also meant it would be a good one as a baby gift for a former coworker
who is expecting this month.  Her first child was also gifted an Island Batik challenge project! 
That one had a teddy bear on it, so I wanted to maybe add an animal to this one, too.  I did
some internet searching and found gold–a pattern called Triangle Friends by Dione
Gardner-Stephen.  The pattern was from Make Modern Magazine issue #26, which I already
owned, and Dione is a former Island Batik ambassador.  Perfect!

 

 

Of the seven playful pals in Dione’s pattern, I picked out the butterfly and the puppy dog.  Both are
made entirely of triangles!  I used scraps of various pink foundation basics left from my precious
pinks bundle for the applique animals.  I actually created the animals first, so I would know how
much space I would need on the quilt background for them.

 

 

Then I set the appliques aside and concentrated on the top.  I loved the colors of Citified, Kathy
Engle’s signature collection for Sherry Shish of Powered by Quilting. I thought the gentle blues,
purples, and oranges would work great as a baby quilt for a baby girl and the collection even has
4 different white-ish fabrics, perfect as a background for the applique animals.  I added a few
other fabrics from both scraps and stash builder strips.  I already had Citified out for my Row by
Row quilt and went ahead and got my triangles ready. Cutting the 165 triangles needed for the top
was a breeze with the Accuquilt. Piecing the equilateral triangles was mostly easy, though I did
have to get used to the seams nesting oddly, or at least differently than squares or rectangles do.

 

I did my piecing with Auriful thread, color 1135 pale yellow.  I used two different pinks for the
applique, both from the Sardinia color builder, 2425 Bright Pink & 2530 Blossom Pink.  For the
applique, I absolutely love Schmetz super nonstick needles.  They glide right through the fusible
web and I have no problem with sticky residue.  I used Aurifil 2134 Spun Gold for the quilting,
which I did in straight lines to really emphasize the triangles.  The batting is Hobbs Heirloom
Bleached 80/20 cotton/poly, perfect for a light-colored quilt.

 

 

you can really see the triangle quilting in this photo

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Aurifil, Schmetz, & Hobbs.

I used the foundation fabric Banana at the end of the rows, the parts that would become the
cut-off triangles to square up the top.  I also used Banana for the border and binding.  I love
these colors together and feel like they work well for a baby quilt but won't seem out of place
when she's a bit older.

I had a lot of fun with this challenge.  I use triangles a lot in quilts but I don't know that I've ever intentionally only used triangles.  And this really is Totally Triangles!

Messenger Bag

Regular readers know that for almost two years now, I've been obsessed with By Annie bags.  I think it's because before I discovered her patterns, I could not sew bags, and now that I realize I can, I want to sew ALL the bags.  One of the ones I've wanted to make is a messenger bag.  And here it is!

This is the Multi-Tasking Messenger Bag from Annie's Craftsy class.  She no longer sells that pattern separately, but my understanding is that MJ's Messenger Bag (which offers 2 sizes) is essentially the same bag. This is the non-quilted version, though you can quilt the fabric first, before constructing the bag.

This was my first time making significant modifications to an Annie pattern and I so pleased that it worked out!  Specifically, I added an inch each to the length and height of the bag so it would fit my laptop.  And it fits perfectly!  I love the design, there is extra padding in the laptop area. 

You can't tell from the photo, but this part is extra padded

My fabrics are all from stash/scrap, the main fabric is leftover from an extra-wide back.  I love it so much!  Now I just need to be able to attend in-person conferences again, which is one of the only times I walk around with my laptop.  I do think I'll find more occasions to use this messenger bag now that I have it.