when do I trim the little tags off triangles??

[Lynn K.]

Ok, the forum says "ask anything" so I'm doing that.

I'm a very new, hand-piecing beginner. I hand piece because I do not own (nor have access to) a sewing machine.

I'm working on a Diary Quilt and the block I'm on has lots of triangles. I've done that before, but I've forgotten -- when do I trim off the little tags??

Ex, I'm doing a block called Christmas Star. I join two quarter-square triangles to each other (along a short side), then join those to a half-square triangle (along the long side). Then I join two of those (now square) units to each other.

At what point do I cut off all the little corners/tags/flags whatever you want to call them that hang off the edges where the triangles join and I've folded over the seams/pressed the seams??

Before I join the square units (made of 1 half-square triangle and 2 quarter-square triangles) to each other??? or leave them and only trim off the outside edges when the whole block is done???

I hope I've asked this in a way that makes sense. Thanks!

-Heather

[Margo C.]

Heather, Alex refers to those little triangles as "bunny ears". I've also heard "dog ears".

Whatever....unless they are needed in order to line up the next piece, which is not usually necessary when you are hand piecing, you should trim them as you go. You will be able to see them after you've pressed your seam, and it will eliminate any unnecessary bulk.

[Margo C.]

Thanks, Margo! Did it, joined the squares together and now have beautifully aligned units! Thanks!!

[Margo C.]

I use a triangle ruler and cut triangles from strips. That eliminates one "dog ear" immediately. I then turn the ruler and nip off the other one while still stacked. I wouldn't do it any other way. I had used this method for a few years when I took a class to force myself to use the square, draw diagonal, sew, cut and then have all those tips to curse. That's Thangles or similar paper method nowadays. I had a good time at the class but that class taught me that I march to my own drummer far too much to be a good student. I visited the second half of the day and went home to work on my project. Background fabric was solid and I don't do solids so I finished it with my own stash fabrics, among other changes..

[Margo C.]

thanks for the tips on this one -- here's the finished square, called Christmas Star (from the book A Quilter's Diary).



I embellished with a (pinned on) Ojos de Dios ornament, a nod to my childhood tree ornaments in my family. It's just pinned with a safety pin so should not interfere with anything, but wanted to show what the block looks like with the embellishment.

-Heather

[Margo C.]

I use a triangle ruler and cut triangles from strips. That eliminates one "dog ear" immediately. I then turn the ruler and nip off the other one while still stacked. I wouldn't do it any other way. I had used this method for a few years when I took a class to force myself to use the square, draw diagonal, sew, cut and then have all those tips to curse. That's Thangles or similar paper method nowadays. I had a good time at the class but that class taught me that I march to my own drummer far too much to be a good student. I visited the second half of the day and went home to work on my project. Background fabric was solid and I don't do solids so I finished it with my own stash fabrics, among other changes..

Agnes, this all sounds very fascinating but way over my head, LOL!

In this case, i was cutting loads of little pieces from lots of different fabric but things like three 2 and 3/8ths half-square triangles, then four 3 and 1/4th quarter square triangles, and so on. I don't *think* the strip method of cutting triangles would have worked for that, but I could be wrong (or, it could have worked, but with 2 here, 5 there, etc. would not have been all that time saving....right??).

I didn't realize that there even was such a thing as a triangle ruler, or that using one would cut out one dog ear immediately. How interesting!

[Margo C.]

Heather, if you get the TQS DVD with episode 504, Marti Michell demonstrates using her rulers to cut the dog ears before you sew!

http://watch/watch-shows/video/show-...-instant-magic

http://www.frommarti.com/mm5/merchan...egory_Code=PPT

[Margo C.]

Your block is very lovely and love the addition of the ornament. Now I wish I still had all the crocheted snowflakes I used to put on my tree and I'd be on my way to a new Christmas/Winter quilt. Oh well!!

For me the added bonus of the triangle ruler is that you don't have to add that extra 3/8" to the width to then cut off as dog ears. All my finished 2" HST are cut from 2 1/2" strips. This way, as long as I have a strip I can cut either squares or triangles. I use Omnigrid rulers exclusively but the theory of the dog's ear remains the same.

[Margo C.]

Heather--nice job on your block.

[Margo C.]

Heather--nice job on your block.

I agree with Ritzy - it's looking good.

(and I sharn't even ask to look at the back 8) - which is a bad habit of mine ops: )

Rosemary

[Margo C.]

Heather--nice job on your block.

I agree with Ritzy - it's looking good.

(and I sharn't even ask to look at the back 8) - which is a bad habit of mine ops: )

Rosemary

thanks, all! You guys are very encouraging!

Rosemary, here are the backs and the fronts of 2 more blocks. Enjoy!

-- the backs of Christmas Star and 3 others
-- a block called Delectable Mountain
-- a block called Crayon Box

It's not letting me add the 4th photo for some reason, the back is shown; it's a block called Broken Dishes. You can see the back of it in that first photo of all 4 backs.

If the backs show anything that makes you guys want to give me some helpful hints, advice, suggestions or anything, I'm open to hearing such things. Thanks for peeking!

-Heather

[Margo C.]

They look great to me Heather! Brave girl to post photos of the backs for the world to see!!

(Yes....there is a 3 photo limit on the forum. If you want to show more, just add another forum comment.)

[Margo C.]

Wow ! they are looking really good 8)
The backs are showing that your stitches are nice and even, which means that any pull on the seams will be evenly distributed, and also that you are being tidy with your ends as you go along - another good habit whether you are working by hand or machine.

It is probably not really necessary with these small blocks, but for long seams I picked up the advice (from an old tailor)of taking 10 running stitches and then one 'lock' (or back) stitch, this was for when working on the long seams of trousers, and makes sense that if you lock stitch every 10 stitches, should the seam burst you only lose that set of 9 sitiches not the entire seam.
I personally think this is the true meaning of the old saying

'A stitch in time, saves nine.'

cheers

[Margo C.]

Wow ! they are looking really good 8)
The backs are showing that your stitches are nice and even, which means that any pull on the seams will be evenly distributed, and also that you are being tidy with your ends as you go along - another good habit whether you are working by hand or machine.

It is probably not really necessary with these small blocks, but for long seams I picked up the advice (from an old tailor)of taking 10 running stitches and then one 'lock' (or back) stitch, this was for when working on the long seams of trousers, and makes sense that if you lock stitch every 10 stitches, should the seam burst you only lose that set of 9 sitiches not the entire seam.
I personally think this is the true meaning of the old saying

'A stitch in time, saves nine.'

cheers

Thanks, Rosemary! I appreciate the encouragement, as well as the tip. That will come in quite handy when I get to the very daunting task of eventually joining these small blocks into rows and into a quilt top. I'll definitely remember that! Thank you!

[Margo C.]

Heather when you get ready to assemble your blocks, you might want to try Jo Morton's technique of assembling large blocks instead of rows to make it easier to manage:

http://daily-blog/103-good-advice/14...into-quadrants

However be aware that her photo is cropped to show an extra set of sashing strips! You don't want to do that!