Shattered Angles Quilt

I've spent some time this weekend working on my Splash of Color QAL. My version is called Shattered Angles.


As I worked on it, it all came back to me why I had been so frustrated with this project. Since I seem to be in a more zen mood, I even managed to figure out how to make the process easier. I thought that I would share some of my learning with you.

The pattern is based on cutting and sewing strips, stacking them and then cutting them at a 45 degree angle. The pieces are then moved around so that each finished strip will have different fabrics. So far, so good.

Putting the two pieces together

My problem comes when I have to add a strip to the others, after having inserted the coloured fabric. Before figuring it out, I ended up with some very narrow strips. That's why my finished blocks are now 6" instead of 6½" square.

Adding a pin where the two pieces meet (top right)

I finally figured out that if I placed a pin where the new strip and the coloured piece meet, I could then  pull the fabric over and make sure that it was straight.

Looks straight to me!

It doesn't seem like much, but I would probably have finished the whole quilt 2 years ago if I have figured it out sooner :-)

I also found that if I ironed the seams and pinned everything, that it was much easier to sew. (I know, it should be evident!)

Ironed, pined and ready to sew.

Here is the finished strip, ready to be trimmed and cut. I'm quite happy with the top of the strip since it's fairly straight. That's what I was trying to do!

Ready to be trimmed

After trimming the strip to 6" long, I then cut it to get 6" square blocks.

Trimmed and ready to cut

Here is my pile of blocks. So far, I have 24 completed. I made 15 of them on the weekend.

Pile of finished 6" blocks

There are many options for laying out this quilt, but this is the most obvious one. Four blocks are placed together to make a kind of square box type pattern. It's best if the coloured lines don't meet, but that's easier said than done.

Preview of what the quilt could look like

 At this point, the quilt is about half done. I have put it away since I have other priorities this month. I'm not sure that I'll be finished in time for the final link-up for the quilt top (December 12, 2017), but that would be the story of my life. I'm just thrilled that I gotten ahead on this UFO!

To-Do Tuesday

I didn't get any of the things I wanted done this week - so I'm going to try again!
For my To-Do list this week, I'm going to work on another wholecloth quilt and add a few more rows on my batik quilt!

What I learned

• Isn't it amazing what effect your state of mind can have on your quilting? I guess it shouldn't be surprising since our state of mind pretty much affects our whole life :-) Anyway, I am glad that I was calmer and able to work out how to put these strips together. I did try out a couple of other methods but they didn't work. I don't see things easily in 3D, so it's not surprising that I had that much trouble. I'm just thrilled that it worked out.
• This will never be my favourite quilt or pattern. Even without the black and white fabric, it's way too much work for me! Of course I would never say that about an art quilt that I would put just as much effort into :-)

Related Links

• More learning and updates, November 5, 2017
• Splash of Color QAL and a deadline, October 16, 2017

Linking Parties: I am linking up to the Splash of Color QAL, as well as many other quilting parties. Check them out! Main Crush Monday, Monday Making, To-Do Tuesday, Linky Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, WOW - Wips on Wednesdays, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday,

I have awesome news! My Shattered Angles project was featured on Connie's Linky Tuesday. Check it out!

More learning and updates

For the October Learning Quilt-A-Long, I made and quilted 4 improv pieced blocks using different batting.

I've had a chance to bind, wash, air dry and iron them - it's made quite a difference, but unfortunately, not easily seen on the images.

Here are the results:

Log Cabin block after washing

Log Cabin block

The Log Cabin block was made using Warm 100 Cotton with 100% cotton scrim

X block 

X Block after washing

The X block was made using Hobbs Tuscany Collection silk and fine polyester (90%-10%) with resin bonded.

Half-Square Triangle block

Half-Square Triangle block after washing

The Half-Square Triangle block was made using Hobbs Tuscany Collection cotton-wool (80%-20%) batting with resin bonded.

Square Pieced block after washing

Square Pieced block

The Square Pieced block was made using Tender Touch bamboo-cotton (50%-50%) with scrim.


I did steam iron the blocks since they were pretty scrunched up.

Update on the Splash of Color QAL


It's time to show some progress on the Splash of Color QAL. Here is the quilt block that I am making. It's called Shattered Angles.

I have no idea at this time if it's going to end up as a lap quilt or just a wall hanging or runner. We'll see how quickly I get tired of it!

For readers who don't know me, I have a problem working with black and white fabrics. Even with the addition of a little bit of colour, I find the lack of other colours quite depressing to work with.

Two Shattered Angles blocks

Slow Stitching with English Paper Pieced Hexies

I have finally reached the point where I'm tired of just making hexie flowers. So I put all of my hexies together to what I could make, either a wall hanging or a runner. I wanted to keep this project simple, without having to make a gazillion more hexies, so I just played around until I figured out a way to put the flowers together. This is what I've come up with.

Putting the hexie flowers together

So far, my plan is to put a white-on-white hexie row between each row of flowers. I am using coloured fabric with a white or off-white background between each flower (with a pop of colour in the middle hexie).

All the hexie flowers to date 

I haven't decided yet if it's going to be three hexie flowers wide or just two. I'm also not sure how long I will make it.

What I learned

• After washing the blocks, I'm not sure that I can tell the difference between the batting, except for the silk. It's still the thinnest and lightest.
• All of the batting has shrunk a little, so that all the blocks have a slightly puffy look. I can't even tell now if the wool-cotton batting has more loft after washing than the cotton and bamboo-cotton.
• I would have to say that the results are pretty inconclusive so far.
• I'm surprised that I made so many hexie flowers before getting bored! That's probably a record for me. Now I'm looking forward to putting them together into something....
• I still want to appliqué some hexies to make a piece. I could certainly do that with any left-over flowers.
• I cleaned my sewing machine this morning and may have messed something up. I decided to just turn it off and hope that it's just a temporary issue. I will deal with it another day. It it turns out to be serious, I may have to revise my learning goals - hand quilting anyone?

Related Links

• October Learning Quilt-A-Long: Goal Setting (Oct. 1, 2017) and Sum Up (Oct. 25, 2017)
• Splash of Color QAL and a deadline, October 16, 2017
• Splash of Color QAL - Quilt Block
• Hexie flowers posts:
• Labels, Image Transfers and Slow Stitching, October 15, 2017
• More goals....really?, October 5, 2017
• Lots of projects, September 12, 2017

Linking Parties: I am linking up to the Splash of Color QAL, as well as many other quilting parties. Check them out! Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap!, MOP Monday, Design Wall Monday, Main Crush Monday, Monday Making, Linky Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social,

Splash of Color QAL and a deadline

I've been resisting....but it didn't last. Myra of Busy Hands Quilts is hosting a Splash of Color QAL. The quilt has to be black and white with a splash of colour. As you can guess, I'm joining!

Why would I do that when I have tons of other stuff to do? Well, it turns out that I took a workshop last year with the Common Threads Quilt Guild called Shattered Angles. The technique was based on the book "Splash of Color - A Rainbow of Bright Black-and-White Quilts" by Jackie Kunkel. I just happened to choose Black and White with a jelly roll of solid colours for my quilt.

The quilt is only partially done - so this is the perfect opportunity to keep working on it. I'm not sure if I'll finally finish it during this QAL, but getting anything more done on it would be a bonus!

Here is the fabric that I'm using. If they look familiar, it's because I used some of these for Anna's Black & White wall hanging. Oops, I may have to pick up a few more fat quarters of black and white fabric!

Fabric selection for Shattered Angles

My To-Do List this week

Since I am going away for a week at the end of the month, I have to complete, or at least start my Learning Quilt-A-Long for October. Ideally, I would finish it by the weekend and then write my October Learning Sum Up Link-up post before I leave. Nothing like being ambitious at the beginning of the week :-)

You may recall that my learning challenge this month is to quilt with different batting to see what the difference is.

I now have 4 batting to try. I'll be adding the specifics of each batting on the October Learning Sum Up Link-up.

• Hobbs Tuscany silk batting
• Hobbs Tuscany cotton wool blend batting
• Warm & Natural cotton batting
• Bamboo batting

Silk batting

Cotton-wool batting

Batting is great, but I also need something to quilt! I've been working on some improvisational piecing with scraps. The goal is to make two blocks with each batting. So far, I'm thinking of one block of the improvisational piecing and the other using solid fabric so that I can to see how the quilting will show up as well as do a little bit of hand quilting, to compare each batting.

This will give me a chance to practice my free motion quilting (FMQ) as well as test out the batting. Hopefully I'll figure out what to do with the test pieces, since I like having something to show for the effort, even if they are rug mugs, placemats or mini wall hangings for the office.

What I learned

• I can't resist a QAL if it means that I'll be able to work on an existing project. And to be honest, I love having a reason to write a blog post and link it!
• The hardest part of the batting experiment is figuring out what to quilt. I do reserve the right to change my mind and quilt something totally different :-)

Related Links

• "Splash of Color - A Rainbow of Bright Black-and-White Quilts" by Jackie Kunkel
• Splash of Color Quilt Along 
• Learning QAL - October Goal Setting Link-up

Linking parties - I will be linking this post to the Splash of Color QAL and many more link-ups. Check them out! MOP Monday, Monday Making,  Main Crush Monday, Design Wall Monday,
Off the Wall Fridays, To-Do Tuesday, Finished or Not Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?, Let's Bee Social, Linky Tuesday, Midweek Makers