JuneBillie

Hey Mary! lol... Your sweet. Miss seeing you too. I will be cutting a few 2 1/2" as I can, but I am in the midst of making a big quilt for me and hubby, and waiting on some fabric I ordered that my son wants in a specific color to make him and my daughter in law a queen size quilt for a tear drop camper he is making.
But, I do look forward to cutting some of the small sizes to put in something on days I don't want to do any sewing for now.

paintmejudy

I'm baaackk!!! Internet up and running, and I am off to the races with this week's clue. Ok, now, I gave you the little job this morning, what do you call it? Oh yes, busy work. Now, it's not in vain, you will use these strips next week. So set them aside, and let's get cutting and sewing.

How about some QST (quarter square triangle) blocks?
Today you will be making 48 quarter square triangle blocks, QST. They will measure 4-1/2” when sewn, pressed and trimmed as needed. I was designing this as I went along, and when I got to this step, I decided that I needed to put some solids into the mix to make it all cohesive, and one fabric constant to the QST blocks. I chose the gold for my constant and used more of the neutrals. But go ahead and play and decide if you want to do these blocks all scrappy or controlled scrappy with one of the pieces a constant. But you will need to use the neutral piece.

I have an astigmatism that is not fully correctable by my glasses, so I always over cut blocks for QSTs. If the Quilt Police were writing these directions, you would be told to cut 5-1/4” squares and cut them diagonally, twice. I cut my blocks at 5-1/2” as I think part of my problem is my perfect squares are not cut perfect! And then there is the getting the ruler perfectly laid corner to corner. Sigh.

So, you will need 12 blocks of the assorted neutral colors cut at your size preference – mine were cut at 5-1/2” square, then cut corner to corner, and then again corner to corner, to get 48 triangles. Be careful not to move the 5-1/2” block when making the second cut this block. Do the same with another color, this is what I am calling my constant, my golden yellow-- 12 blocks cut corner to corner to get 48 triangles.

Now, looking at the pictures, you see how you will need 96 triangles in many different patterns/colors to go with the neutral and the constant. I was lucky to have some pieces big enough to cut 5-1/2” squares from. If you want to use large scrap, cut 24 different fabrics at 5-1/2” and cut corner to corner twice as you did with the neutrals. If you don’t have large scrap, cut 48 pieces at 3-3/4” and cut once corner to corner to get the 96 triangles. I actually cheated, and was wasteful, as I used some squares from my 4” and 4-1/2” boxes of cut-down scrap, I knew I was going to have to trim.

Layout the blocks as you see in the photo. Put one colored with a neutral and sew together as shown. Make 48 of these units. Put one colored with one constant and sew as shown, 48 units. To do this, Take two of the triangles and line up the square corner, then sew from that corner toward the point. Remember that you are sewing on the bias so be careful not to stretch. Don’t worry about trying to make the points match, they most likely will not as you overcut your blocks.. Do this with all the triangle pairs to avoid having a wonky seam when you sew the triangles together. It is important to have your pieces look like my sample. Press the triangles to the dark, without stretching the fabric. Sew two pieces together as shown, and trim as needed. You will end up with 48 QST blocks that measure 4-1/2”. The measurement is important to allow everything to go together correctly. Even more important is to layout the colors as shown.

I had originally told you the mystery would end on 2/24. However, now that I cannot hold the surprise any more, without having you do busy work, it will end next week with the assembly and finish, and how I made the outer decorative borders.

Happy sewing!

paintmejudy

JuneBillie, so glad you are here, we missed you!

Belfrybat

Thank you Judy! Just to clarify, you used solids (or close to solids) for the coloured fabric on all the QSTs?
I'm sorry we are ending next week. I enjoy your mysteries and this one will be way too short.

paintmejudy

They are a collection of mostly solids, but some dark tone-on-tone, some tiny tiny print that look like solid from a distance, and even used the wrong side of some pieces where the print was too busy for what I wanted, but the back was pretty solid.

To Every one of you - I am taking a poll.
I had come up with some other ideas when I finally sat down to draft this mystery. I even cut all the pieces for a scrappy monotone gray with a touch of yellow, but it is all HSTs and I figured a lot of gals wouldn't be too pleased with that. But ... if anyone likes HSTs, I got a dandy almost ready to go within a couple weeks of the end of #18. It doesn't have to be monotone, but I had a ton of gray, This pattern would work nicely with light, medium and dark scraps, with a solid accent color.
Let me know how you feel, all comments welcome. I chose this from a single block I saw but the pattern it makes it absolutely stunning!

Belfrybat

YES to another mystery starting soon since this one is so short! Just give us time to finish this one as I gather the next clue will be a doozie with assembly and borders.

Since I discovered the Magic 8 method of HSTs, I don't mind them at all. Just don't get me started on what I think of QSTs, as we are making right now! (Yeah, I know, suck it up Brigit.)

AngeliaNR

I'm with you, Brigit! HSTs are no problem, but QSTs... sigh. I'm thinking about mine right now.

Yes, to another, Judy!

Teen

Thanks, Judy, for the clue and instructions. Glad you are up and running. Yes, please! Another mystery would be great if you feel like doing that for us... This was my first mystery, tho short, it has been fun.

cannyquilter

Hi Judy, yes please to another mystery.

paintmejudy

Yes, I know, QSTs are not my favorite, either. But at least they are big! Much better that 3 inchers. LOL But you have to agree, QST blocks add a bit of pizazz. I love the looks of them, dislike making them. In fact, I just bit the bullet this afternoon and finished up making mine.

Ok, then, it seems positive, about another mystery, hope I keep getting feedback!