QuiltnLady1

Loved that video!! Wish I had seen it before my OBW. Mine is a tale of woe.

I took a work shop, and while the instructor had made one, she did not suggest starching the fabric, and she really did not emphasize pinning as much as was needed. (Once I got a close look at her quilt I realized that while it looked great from 5", the patterns in the triangles was not a good match up close). My patterns sort of matched, and since I was using a paisley and not flowers, the misses showed up more than the gals using florals. I plastered my design wall for weeks afterward and finally came up with a 5 hexagons that were pretty close, plus some halves that also matched, and made a table runner (with a few contrasting triangles that made a star). I have not figured out what to do with all those left over triangles, but I may tackle them soon -- however, I used all the fabric I used as contrast (of course) and it is a very unusual periwinkle blue.

From what I learned (the hard way, of course), I would say that starching (loved the tip about hanging the fabric to dry it), cutting the large pieces so the pieces are exact and pinning the patterns so they match before cutting is critical. Take the time. If you do this right, the piecing was really the easy part. If I did not have a design wall, I don't think I would have made anything out of the triangles -- it really helped to see what worked, what didn't and how I could get the look I wanted. I think I would have pitched everything otherwise.

Once I clear a few more projects, I will be making another -- now that I understand the technique much better.