Sunday, January 5, 2014

Ode to Triangles....part two

I promise, I will not be grumpy tonight about the triangles. Well, maybe only a teensy, tiny bit. I was encouraged and not a little bit comforted by all the comments I got on my last post; its good to know I'm not the only one who finds triangles a complete PITA.


I set about the piecing on Friday night. All those rows. It seemed to take a long, long time. Then I pressed them. And remembered the trimming...all those little dog ears that needed to be trimmed back. So I did that. I may have muttered a bit about it under my breath and then remembered my decision to embrace the process after the last post, so I stopped muttering and pasted a smile on my face.

Then it was time to piece the rows together, to assemble the quilt top. And I remembered what I really, really dislike about working with triangles. It's so blindingly obvious and in your face that I hadn't even thought about it, stupid as that may sound.


Matching the points.

I made a decision not to freak out about it. Unless they were absolutely apallingly off (half an inch or so out), I wasn't redoing them. That did give me a certain freedom, and I rattled through the assembling at a ferocious rate. Given how un-exacting I was being (I still was pinning, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't being over the top about it), they came out surprisingly well. I think I only had to rip back 2 points in the whole thing; pretty good going. But I'm not going to show you close ups. There's a lot of slightly cut off points in there, as well as slightly off matching. I doubt anyone will notice though once its done.

 

Then I pressed (and cursed my careless seam matching again when the seams weren't going the way I wanted them to). And then I shook it out, in all its glory and fell utterly and totally in love.

 

I'm sorry the pictures are not great - the weather here thinks it is in monsoon country apparently so there's no getting outside for nice light. But I think you can see how it works. I really was worried about those grey triangles grouped together, whether that would work or just look stupid. Possibly I should have made a big triangle out of the low volume ones but maybe that would then look too even and regular, I did want it to be random so as to draw the eye through the quilt. The low volume totally breaks up the look of the quilt - I did not want even rows, I wanted something with movement and depth and I think that I've achieved that. The brightness of the print fabrics is not jumping out of this picture, trust me when I say that the colours are absolutely vibrant and bright and beautiful in real life.

I love it. I really, really love it.

Now its time to start thinking about getting this baby finished for the birthday girl on Wednesday. (Not a hope, but sure I'll keep trying.)  I have some Michael Miller Zoology fabric in pink and grey for backing, but only a yard and a half, so I need to size it up a bit as this top measures about 72" x 48". I'm considering chopping up a pink flat sheet I have if I can't find enough fabric in my stash. And I need to think about quilting now. I can't face wrestling with my machine to do straight lines on the diagonal, its being very temperamental at the moment. I was thinking some sort of FMQ - maybe with loopy loops in the white triangles? Suggestions and inspiration most most welcome.

16 comments:

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Oh whatever quilting you choose will be perfect, the top looks beautiful - when it is all washed and snuggly, those points will all be forgotten xxx

Sonia said...

Oh its beautiful! Such a lovely present for your little girl. All the pain will soon be forgotten and then you'll want to start another one ;)

Sophie Belle Designs said...

It's super gorgeous Sarah. Well worth the pain!

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

They are a real pain!! But you're doing a great job!!

Judith, Belfast said...

Well done for sticking with it S! Looks brill! Jxo

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans said...

Absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I am yet to tackle the joy of making a triangle quilt - you give me hope :)

Katy Cameron said...

It does look fab, and remember the blind man on the trotting horse theory for any perceived imperfections :oD

Mack and Mabel said...

I don't feel qualified to advise on the quilting, but I love, love, love this quilt. The low volumes are perfectly placed to keep the eye moving around the quilt. You've done a great job, and I shall look back at your post for inspiration when I get round to making one - one day!

Cindy said...

Woo hoo! It was totally worth the struggle. Absolutely lovely. I like the loopy idea of quilting - something to counterbalance the angles of the piecing. Would you even dare large bubble quilting, maybe?

Anonymous said...

This quilt is really wonderful!! I, too, avoid triangles - all that fiddly-ness that you talk about drives me crazy!! But, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your process and the irritants - hah!! Happy birthday to your little girl from an old gal who shares the same birthday!

Andee said...

It is easy to love, great job!

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

Looks brilliant and loopy loops sounds good to me

ana-ane said...

Desde aquĆ­ se ve preciosa, me gusta mucho.

saludos

Leigh Anne said...

It turned out beautiful! She is going to be thrilled regardless of how you quilt it :)

Canadian Abroad said...

It is seriously gorgeous and if anyone is rude enough to look too close at the points and be nit picky, poke them in the eye with your seam ripper. Quilts are for loving and using, not looking at from an inch away.

Karen said...

It looks amazing! I love all the fabrics you used and your plan sounds great. Loopy swirls will be perfect for a snuggly finish :)