May 12, 2022

Scrappy Triangles WIP

Way back in 2011 I bought the November/December issue of Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting magazine and it had the pattern for this gorgeous scrappy quilt called Scrappy Triangles. designed by Jean Nolte. 
Scrappy Triangles quilt | DevotedQuilter.com
At some point fairly soon after getting the magazine, I decided to make it, but since it requires 864 2" finished HSTs, I decided to just start cutting the squares whenever I had scraps big enough. Eventually I had a big bag of light and dark squares, so I started sewing the HSTs as leaders and enders.

I'm never good at sticking with leaders and enders. I love them in theory, but before long I forget to take them out when I start sewing or I don't have pieced prepped, so I move on without them. This starting and stopping sequence has happened a couple of times with these scrappy HSTs.

I'm working on a quilt for Make Modern, to be published in the summer, and when it came time to sew the blocks together I decided to pull out the HSTs again. I was surprised to see a big pile of completed HSTs in a bag with the cut squares, so it seemed like a good idea to count them up and see just how many I already have. Can you imagine how surprised I was to find I had 400 already finished??
Scrappy HSTs | DevotedQuilter.com
While piecing the top for the Make Modern quilt, I finished another small stack of pretty little HSTs.
Scrappy HSTs | DevotedQuilter.com

Scrappy HSTs | DevotedQuilter.com

I also thought a lot about whether or not I still want to recreate the whole quilt. I really love the blocks, but I don't feel like making the throw size anymore. Plus, with my set goal of making more small quilts and the fact that I've decided to donate baby quilts to the province's Ronald McDonald house, I decided that making a couple of baby quilts from the blocks would be a better plan.

Each block requires 52 HSTs and I'll use 4 blocks with sashing to make each baby quilt. So 208 HSTs gives me a baby quilt and 416 gives me 2 baby quilts. Since I already have over 400 HSTs, I have enough to start piecing the blocks! With the ones I made last week, I have extras which is good because there are a few I'll probably set aside because their light/dark contrast isn't great.

My plan is to assemble the HSTs into pairs as leaders and enders, preferably without falling off the leader/ender wagon again. So these two baby quilts will still take a super long time, but that's perfectly okay. They've already been a WIP for 10 or 11 years, so I don't think there's any rush!

Do you do leaders and enders? If you do, do you have any tips for being consistent with them? I'd love to make them a permanent part of my quilting process, especially for this kind of scrappy quilt.

4 comments:

  1. I have never done leaders and enders; it wasn't something I was aware of until a few years ago, honestly. I like your plan of using up the HSTs you have made and creating 2 baby quilts with them. Have fun, whatever the timeline ends up being!

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  2. This looks great. I have never done leaders and enders. That would require me to make a plan...and then follow through. LOL

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  3. I tend to make a lot of donation quilts using 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles - so I almost always have a stack of them by my machine, and I run a few through at every sewing session. The only problem that I have is that once I start sewing those leader / ender blocks, I can't stop! Before I know it, I've made 12 or 20 (or more!) units, and my primary project has been pushed aside....

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  4. I love leaders and Enders! I’ve made quite a few quilts using this method! This quilt is so pretty! Perhaps my next leader/ender project!

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