Sawtooth Block

[Patricia S.]

Oops! I did it again...got to learn to read ALL the instructions before I start to put things together. While making my sawtooth blocks, I realized after the fact that we are suppose to mix up the color..so either I take them all apart or leave as is..does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? Pat

[karen f.]

How about leaving some matching and the rest mixed up? It only matters if you don't like it.
Karen

[Denise L.]

It's really hard for me to mix things up so I stretched a bit and make sure they were mixed up. I also was going to be really brave and mix all the 1/2 square triangles up but decided against that, one step at a time...

I think matching will be fine. It is YOUR quilt, you want to be comfortable sleeping under it. :wink:

denise

[Sharon E.]

Hi all -- I just tried Ritzy's sawtooth tutorial and I liked it much better than Sue's. I had a hard time making the little points match in Sue's directions. Ritzy's was also much faster.

Sharon

[Sharon E.]

Dear Pat,

I would not take them apart. Instead keep them and mix them up among the other 80 plus that we still have to make. Just ensure that your next batches are mixed.
cheers
Jeanine

[Sharon E.]

Sharon (or anyone else who knows the answer...)

Where do I find Ritzy's sawtooth tutorial ?

Karen

[Pat L.]

It's in one of her recent blogs from 02/15/2009 - either scroll back at "member blogs" or go to her profile and find her blogs there. Haven't tried her "method" but she has great pics of it and notes on doing them - Good'luck!

[Pat L.]

Great tutorial Ritzy! I like to idea of minimizing seams.

Ricky Tims recently gave a tutorial on an even simpler way of making flying geese by sewing a rectangle into the seam between two squares. I'm searching for it to get the correct measurements. Has anyone tried this method with this BOM? If so, I'd like to hear your comments on this technique for this project.

[Pat L.]

Nancy, you can find Ricky's video of the flying geese technique in the Daily Blog on January 14, 2009. I used it to make my sawtooth star blocks and will continue to use it for the rest. It was fast and accurate. The only aspect that bothers me a little is the extra layers of fabric because it means there are three layers in the center triangle instead of just one. However, I feel the speed and accuracy make up for that. Marge

[Pat L.]

Thanks so much Marge (a.k.a quiltinggrandma)! I was searching the videos and couldn't find it. I was seriously considering using Ricky's technique too, but also had a concern about the extra fabric bulk and waste. Well, in the meantime, look what I found! http://www.patchpieces.com/FlyingGeese.pdf It's an easy technique that avoids both the center seam and the waste.

By the way, here's another place where I found this same technique explained with a "No Math" ruler tool to make cutting your pieces even easier. http://lifesaquilt.blogspot.com/2006...hnique_24.html I don't think I need the tool, but it might be great for the mathematically challenged.

I'm going to try this out and will let you know if I decide to use it for my BOM quilt. I'll save Ricky's technique for another project where I'd like the 3D effect.

[Margo C.]

Great technique! Thanks for sharing the links, Nancy!
I would like to recommend that if you use this for the BOM, you might want to cut your pieces just a tiny bit oversized, and trim down so you are sure that the units are exactly 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" for the saw tooth stars so the stars will finish the right size.

[Margo C.]

This looks great, Nancy. Let us know how it works out. I might redo my 1st 8 if this is as good as it looks. Marge

[Margo C.]

This technique is easy and worked wonderfully. I strongly recommend it. Since it doesn't require the center seam, this technique produces prettier flying geese using less fabric.

Per the instructions in this technique, you'll need to cut one large square of your background fabric at 3 1/4" and four smaller squares of your star point fabric at 1 7/8" to get the four finished size (2" width x 1" height) flying geese for one sawtooth block. Using a scant 1/4" seam allowance, these measurements will leave just a sliver extra for squaring (or should I say rectangling??) up the flying geese to the unfinished size (2 1/2" x 1 1/2").

I just finished my first two sawtooth blocks and they turned out nearly perfect. With my first attempt, my seam allowances were a little too scant. However, I was able to square the flying geese up just fine. You will want to square them up before you stitch them to the other block pieces.

I did not starch my fabrics, but it's probably best to starch when working with such small pieces. I'll post photos later today, after I get all eight of the sawtooth blocks completed.

[Margo C.]

Thank you Nancy, great way to do these. Nina

[Margo C.]

Thank you, Nancy. I'll have to give this a try. Marge