Turquoise Triangle Quilt

 

     Finally finished!    

     I began this quilt in June 2013, when I ordered a half-yard bundle of fabrics from Marmalade Fabrics.   This bundle, with turquoise, white and a pop of chartreuse had 5 fabrics in total.  I wanted to see what I could do with that bundle. 

The fabrics from the bundle.   The dotted fabric and the solid were ombres, so cut up, it looks like more than one fabric.

I had also pulled a chartreuse solid to try, but ended up using just the 5 pieces from the bundle.

      Once I had the fabrics, I had to chose a pattern.   I wanted to try a triangle quilt, and used this Quackadoodle tutorial to get started.  I cut smaller triangles than the tutorial, as I wanted a maximum scrappy look with this quilt.   I started with scrap fabric to practice.   

I used some cheaper fabric I was not crazy about as my test pieces.  I always find the cut pieces far more interesting and likeable that the big yardage. 

       The test worked out, so I cut 5 1/2 inch strips, and then cut all the triangles.

The strips.  I cut the strips to maximize the differences in the tops and bottoms of the ombre fabrics



I used a number of rulers to assist with cutting the triangles.

     I was able to get 140 triangles out of the five fabrics, with just a bit left over to use in a future project.


The pile of triangles.

The left-overs.

     I did a lot of arranging and re-arranging the triangles on the design board.  The result could have been a nice baby quilt (and that may be a project down the road), but I wanted something bigger, so I decided to use the triangle piece as a center panel.

Up on the design "wall".  I use a folding screen with some flannel on it as my "wall".  It is easier to take up and down.  Here it is in the living room next to my sewing machine.

     The trick is getting the seams all together when the triangles and rows are sewn together.  I struggle with consistent seam sizes (even though I use a 1/4 inch foot).  I was pretty happy with how most of the seams turned out. 

Pretty good.



Excellent



Oops.

Once I sewed all the rows together,  I trimmed the sides and added a wide border in Kona white.

     I finished the top in May, and prepared a back, and then did nothing for months. I finally got around to finishing it up during my recent "staycation."


Getting ready to pin.

A close up of the backing.  This was a nice cheery print I found yardage of in the Joanne Fabrics red tag section.

     I really struggled with trying to figure out how to quilt this.  Many triangle quilts I see on-line are finished with echo quilting around the seams.   I initially contemplated straight lines in parallel with the seams and was going to try using frog tape to keep the lines straight on the white.   I had also thought about doing bubble quilting on the dotted fabric, but I just couldn't do it after all the bubble quilting on  this quilt.   

     I happened upon a picture on-line of a triangle quilt which was quilted in wavy lines side to side, using different color threads.  I thought I had bookmarked that site to give credit to that quilter, but now cannot find the link anywhere!  I liked that quilting alot, and decided to tweak it for this quilt.   

     First, I used my walking foot and did straight (ish) lines using white Aurifil thread lengthwise down the quilt, roughly in the middle of the triangles.   

     Still using my walking foot, I put two wavy lines in between (or crossing) the straight lines.  I tried to vary these as much as possible.  The straight lines kept it a bit controlled.

A sideways view of the white wavy lines

Checking out the thread (Aurifil medium teal).  I used Warm and White batting in this quilt.

     I then used the turquoise (teal) thread and sewed a wavy line around each straight line, and then two wavy lines in between each straight line, looping over and around with other lines.  I was using the walking foot.  I might try this again just doing it free motion.  It felt forced at times, and I think I need to get my machine tuned up.   Despite the challenges, I really like how this turned out.

Close-up of the finished quilting



Chester approves.

Close-up of the quilting with the binding, before tossing in the washer and dryer.

After washing and drying.  I wasn't sure how the varied spacing would turn out  after washing.  It looks fine.

The back



A full frontal shot in the bright sun with a calm lake.  

     The finished quilt measures  about 48 x 59 inches.  The center panel is 33 x 43 inches.  It is a nice size lap quilt.

    I was happy to have successfully made a triangle quilt, made a quilt from a fabric bundle, and tried a new quilting technique! I always seem to have more projects than time and was glad to have finished three quilts (this one, the Tranquility quilt, and the Plus quilt from homespuns) while I was on vacation.   

 

Enjoy the beginning of fall!  

 

I am entering this in the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side.

Take care,

Gretchen