Orca Bay Mystery, Part 4!

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I have to admit sometimes I worry about whether people will like my mysteries, get frustrated by them, not be challenged enough by them, double question their own skills or fabric choices, and there is a lot of stress associated with running these things.

And then there are the times when I just bust out laughing at what people write ---Have you seen the thing where they ask little children the meaning of LOVE or something, and their answers are hilarious?

I busted out laughing at this comment I woke to yesterday -

I'm sure hoping we see some red in this week's step. We've done black and white 'til I'm tired of it. I'm working on the little accent string blocks. Hoping, hoping for red.

Well gosh! I’m sure glad I didn’t make you do another black and white step this week, but you know what? the word ORCA has a huge amount to do with the black and white in this quilt, so don’t get your hopes up that there won’t be more of it in the future!

And yeah – remember? What is RULE #1??? LOL!

This week IS brought to you by the color RED!

Yep, it’s time to dig into that bin of red strings! Do I hear you cheering?? YAY RED!! Think of bringing in every shade of red you can think of from pinky red to orangey red to burgundy and fire engine and spicy red hot and big juicy tomato!

And if you are NOT using red? This is where whatever color you are using instead of my red comes to play front and center!

For this step you are going to need 64 5.5” foundation squares.

Here I am sewing the first pair of strips down the center diagonal of my foundation square. Remember to set your stitch length EXTRA SMALL, about 1.5. You want the paper easy to remove, but don’t have the stitches so small that the paper comes off before you want it to. You can test it to find where you like it, but if the stitches are too long, the paper will be a bear to remove. You can see I'm still using those old cruise flyers! I'm an equal opportunity junk paper user ;c)

I’m going for a wide variety of reds here --- and not all tone on tones either. They can have patterns and prints and other colors on them just a bit. See how the different widths play? I go anywhere from 3/4” strips up to 2” --- and 2” is PUSHING it in my book.

As I get out toward the corners, I can find places to use my crumbs and bits – leftover triangles cut off from joining lengths of binding on the diagonal work GREAT in these corners….just reconfirming to myself the idea that it is NOT “TRASH” If there is a place I can use it, and DO use it!

Look at all these fun and funky fabrics! Even that bit of yellow in there is going to be great…it makes it so much more interesting to look at than something that is all “the same tone of blah”. Press them really well, and you might even want to use some spray starch at this point because we’ll be slicing these, and it will help with the stretching.

***NOTE!!!*** For an ALTERNATE TRIMMING METHOD, CLICK HERE for an updated post!

Cover ALL 64 squares with strings on the diagonal from corner to corner as shown and trim to 5-1/2” square.

Slice the squares on the diagonal across the strings to yield 128 triangles. At this point, remove the paper.

The reason I leave my paper in to cut on the diagonal? It keeps those strings from wiggling as I cut..it stabilizes and gives me a very straight edge.

I hate sliver trimming --- I hate having to trim things twice, but since we are dealing with strings and a very bias-y shape, this is the best way to do it for me!

Place the 3-1/2” line ((or the big 6 marking if you are looking at the SIDES of the ruler and not down the center)) on the bottom of the triangle and trim up both sides of the triangle.

Now trim them up!

Repeat for all triangles.

Here’s my two trimmed triangles from the one string square! Only 63 squares left to cover --- or 126 triangles to go!

Non-Companion Angle Users: Trim string blocks to 5-1/8” square. Slice these squares across the strings from corner to corner and remove the paper. Be careful not to stretch or distort your blocks. ((Why don’t you have a companion angle ruler yet?! :cD)) Yes, these are smaller than the Companion Angle Ruler directions, but we slivered OFF the extra amount on those. When the companion angle ruler unit and THIS unit are laid on top of each other, they are identical.

Remember to come back on Monday for our Mystery Monday Link-Up! Link your blog post to mine! Also remember to check back to LAST WEEK’s link-up ---we passed 100 bloggers linking their progress! It’s looking GREAT Ya’ll!!

Now get sewing!