Originally Posted by GailG
Your quilt is gorgeous. I have never been as tempted to make a braid quilt as much as I am now. Is there a link to an EASY pattern? I've looked online, but haven't come up with a pattern. I DID learn what a layer cake is. :lol: I think I understand about the cutting, but when you say about the "left" and "right" pieces, I'm floored. :? I know that girl is proud of her new quilt.
When I say left and right pieces, what I mean is that the pieces on the left and right side of the braid are the same shape, it's just that the 45 degree cut that created them was cut in a different direction for each side. There is actually only one template that is used. What I did is taped the template to the underside of my Omnigrid 96L triangle and then stacked the strips beneath it
right side up and made the cut (this made the pieces for one side of the braid). Then, for the strips for the other side of the braid the strips were laid
right side down and the cut was made. So the pieces are shaped the same, it's just that one side has the right side facing up when the cut is made, and the other has it down when the cut it made, so that they will interleave as you stitch the braid.
Looked at another way, if you sort all of your layer cake pieces into two piles, one light and one dark, and then cut each pile into 2.5" strips (4 strips from each cake piece). For the light strips, you'd be cutting the 45 degree angle across the middle of the strip in one direction, whereas for the dark strips you'd be cutting the 45 degree angle across it in the opposite direction. What's nice about this pattern and using a layer cake is that you don't really even need a template - just cut the 10" long 2.5" wide strips across the middle of each one on a 45 degree angle (lights cut in one direction, darks the other).
Hope this helps!