Modern Quilts, Home Decor, and Handcrafted Clothing

Triangle Brights

Triangle Brights

It’s finally here! The day I leave for the Sewing Summit. I am finishing up my packing today and will be catching a late flight this evening. Just in time, I finished up this final class sample last night. This quilt is a little example of what you can make with equilateral triangles.

Triangle Brights

I combined fabrics from my stash with some of Laurie Wisbrun’s upcoming Roughing It line. My son tells me the red camper print is his favorite (mine too!).

Triangle Brights

I quilted this one with straight lines on 1/4″ of each side of the seams. Then I bound it in white (an attempt to give the illusion of the colors floating down the middle).

Triangle Brights

This will probably be my last blog post until I return after the weekend. If you happen to follow me on Twitter or Instagram (@freshlemonsquilts), I will try to post weekend updates as I go along. For those that are joining me in Salt Lake City, I will see you soon!

Fall
A little taste of Fall before I leave :)

October 10, 2012   15 Comments

Cutting Equilateral Triangles ~ A Tutorial

Cutting 60 Degree Triangles ~ Tutorial by Faith of Fresh Lemons Quilts

Next month, Kati of From the Blue Chair and I are going to be teaching a class at the Sewing Summit called “Shapes and Angles”. Kati is going to show everyone how to sew Y-Seams using Hexagons and Diamonds. I’m going to focus on Partial Seams and Equilateral Triangles. Because our class time is limited to 1 hour 15 minutes, we are asking everyone to cut their fabric at home ahead of time and bring the pieces to class.

Kati has posted cutting directions on her blog (here and here). Additional class details can be found in the Sewing Summit Google Group thread titled Shapes and Angles Class.

Let’s dig deep and try to remember Trigonometry class. I know, it’s painful. You probably remember that an equilateral triangle has three 60° angles. In order to cut your fabric for these triangles, you will need a ruler with 60° angle markings – there are two lines that represent 60°. The ruler does not have to be a special ruler for cutting triangles. Just needs the angle markings.

60Degree Line Markings

Let’s get started!


Cutting Equilateral Triangles

Step 1: Cut a 4″ tall strip of fabric.

60DegreeTriangle-Step1

Step 2: Using your quilting ruler, line up the 60° line marking along the bottom of your fabric strip.

60DegreeTriangle-Step2

Step 3: Using your rotary cutter, cut your fabric on the ruler angle.

60DegreeTriangle-Step3

Step 4: Next we are going to cut the third side of the triangle. Remember how your ruler has a 60° marking line going to 2 directions? This time, use other 60° line marking that you did not use the first time. (You will alternate marking lines, every other time you cut.) Make sure the ruler is lined up properly to create the top point of the triangle. Cut your fabric along the ruler edge to create your first equilateral triangle.

60DegreeTriangle-Step4

Step 5: Continue down the strip of fabric, lining up the 60° line marking and cutting additional triangles.

60DegreeTriangle-Step5

Enjoy all your pretty triangles!

60DegreeTriangle-Step6

A Special Note for Those in my Sewing Summit Class:
Bring at least 20 of these triangles to the Sewing Summit class. Although you are welcome to just bring triangles cut from one 42″ strip of fabric, you may want to bring a variety of prints/colors for fun.

Please bring the below additional cut fabric pieces for the Partial Seams portion of the class.
(32) 1.75″ x 5.25″ rectangles in various colors/prints
(8) 4″ x 4″ squares in neutral color/print

We will be beginning work on these sample blocks in class:

September 21, 2012   11 Comments