To line up the stripes, you would have to fussy-cut every square and that would waste time and fabric. Also, as long as you use a directional fabric in the HST - you will have a stripe that doesn't line up in the triangle. I am with the rest of the group: Just go with your original plan. You already KNOW that the stripes won't match. That may give you more leway to play and experiment with the rest of the process. Have fun. It will be beautiful.