1000 Pyramids
 

Hello everyone,
I know there has been at least 1 post about this but I still need help. I found an awesome pattern on quilters cache today called -guess what- 1000 Pyramids! I'd love to try it but I just can't get my points correct. I'll get 2 triangles together and think "beautiful." Then the 3rd one goes on and not too bad but after thet AARGH!
So far I've tried offsetting the ends by 1/4" blunting the corners with several different tools, paper piecing, and folding the unsewn sides in half & lining the creases up. Still no luck. If any one has any suggestions I'd be grateful.
Thank you all
Barb

Try marking your sewing lines on the back of each piece. You can then pin thru the intersections of the adjoining pieces. After a while you will be able to eyeball where your pieces need to be lined up.

I have that pattern in the "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts!" book and it is lovely. Good luck!

That pattern is found in many places. It is just 60 degree triangles row upon row. Sometimes there is the use of color to make different triangluar designs within the quilt. I have seen where larger 60 degree triangles are interspersed with all the smaller ones.

The key, to me at least, is to use a point trimmer of some sort. There are several on the market: Marti Michel, Fons & Porter, and others, that might help you with your points.

A point trimmer does make life easier and accurate cutting & sewing is critical in 60* triangles. If your fabric is stretching with handling, you may want to try starch but just be careful to not pull on the fabric as it's feeding in the machine. Hope that helps a bit.

how about paper pcing, regular or english

I've done several OBWs. They are all 60 degree triangles. I have found that not blunting the corners works best for me. The difference between the OBW & 1000 pyramid construction is that the OBW quilt is assembled in diagonal strips, where the pyramid quilt is usually constructed in rows. If you have a design wall where your quilt is layed out, I would construct it in diagonal strips. Take the first full triangle that points up (from row 1). Take the one directly under it (row 2) and lay it exactly on top of the first, right sides together and sew your seam. Press the seam OPEN. Do not trim the ears. Put it back on the design wall to get the orientation correct. Now take the next one in row 2 place it on top of the previous one from row 2, matching all 3 points. Sew Seam, press... maybe a picture will help...
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Good morning. After sleeping on it (my previous post) I realized that assembling in strips or on the diagonal would make no difference... I would recommend, however, don't blunt the corners, press the seams open and don't trim the ears. You can then match all 3 points of each triangle you add exactly with the ones that are already joined.

I agree with PaperPrincess that it's easiest to keep the corners and use them to line up the pieces.

Press the seams open. Then use the points that stick out to line up your next triangle. I saw this on Fons & Porter and it really works.