Grassy Creek Mystery, Part 3!

Welcome Back, Quiltvillians!

I am hearing from many of you that you are enjoying a much more relaxed pace this mystery go-round.

I am so glad you think so.

There have been many realizations during this whole year.  The biggest one for me was that I have been running at break-neck speed for the entirety that this blog has been running. 15 1/2 years now.  Good gracious - who would think it would take something like a global Covid pandemic to make me finally realize that the go go go I had been going on was just not sustainable long term.

I have discovered that I like life in the "normal" lane, instead of always in the "fast" lane. We'll leave the "slow" lane for when I am MUCH older! LOL!

I have also enjoyed really being involved in the whole mystery process this year even more so than years past because I am home in one place to do it.

There are a couple of exceptions however - we stopped doing the Mystery Monday Link-Up here on the blog a couple years back - it got to be too much to handle, and they changed their protocol for posting. (Which meant that anyone posting had to have a screening process. What a pain) So we migrated to using hashtags on instagram. Which was great - until our election year caused Instagram to remove the "recents" tab showing only "most popular" photos that have been tagged - stating that "Recent posts from all hashtags are temporarily hidden to help prevent the spread of possible false information and harmful content related to the election."  (Blah blah blah)

So this has left me feeling a bit disconnected in the "I want to see what you are doing!" stream of things.  I do, however LOVE the sharing that is happening in our Quiltville’s Open Studio group on Facebook. #nohashtagsrequired

If you are missing seeing what is going on with our #quiltvillemsytery and #grassycreekquilt tags - join us in our group to see what's going on!  

Click HERE for Printer-Friendly PDF.

Tricky Triangles Unit!

25 sets of 4 matching.

We are working with quarter-square triangles for this unit, even though it looks like half-square triangles.  These units become part of another unit down the road!  Stick with me - sizes will be given at the END of our tutorial.

For Part 3, we are going to again be making 25 sets of 4.  All of the units in each set will be of the same 3 fabrics.  You can make each set different from the next, but they all include red, orange and neutral. Got it?

I also need to state here that if the fabrics used are RED/NEUTRAL/ORANGE - those are the ONLY COLORS we are using in this step. Part One was Grey/Gold.  That means ONLY Grey/Gold.  Part Two was Green/Gold/Neutral.  That means only Green/Gold/Neutral - okay? Leave the other colors alone for later.

You may also put your GOLD away.  I had some emails with folks worried that they were running out. I have given sufficient yardage for all of the colors. 

As previously stated - you may use ANY method you choose for these units. Just pay attention to the unfinished unit size at the bottom of this clue.  Finished size will not be given until this unit is added upon later. 

If you are using traditional rotary cutting math for this unit, you'll be cutting from 4 1/4'' squares.

For 4 matching units in a set, place a neutral 4 1/4'' square right sides together with a red 4 1/4'' square.  Stack them on top of 2 matching orange 4 1/4'' squares for a total of 4 stacked squares together in a set.

Slice the set on the diagonal from corner to comer twice with an X to yield 4 matched red/neutral triangle pairs ready to sew, and 8 wing triangles to be added after the red/neutrals are sewn.   Cut out 25 sets. Once cut, these will assemble the same way my Essential Triangle Tool  method works below.

Lola, in the middle of everything!

This will feel similar to Part 2 -

But let's move that ruler UP a notch!

Where we worked from 1 1/2'' strips in Part 2, we are going to work with 2'' strips for Part 3.

Each set takes 1 neutral, 1 red and 1 orange strip.  How long do strips need to be?  Cut one set from fairly long strips, and measure what it took to get one set.  Make note of this length for future sets.

Place the red and neutral strips with right sides together.  Place the 2'' marking down the center of the ruler on the bottom of the strip set and trim 2 sides.  (Remember - line ON the fabric, right? Get the line up off of the mat!)

The 2'' marking tells you what size strip we are cutting from.

*Note* - if you follow that green line all the way to the left, you'll see that if we were making hourglass units, this unit would finish at 3''.  We are NOT making hourglass units, however!

Cut 4 matching triangle pairs per set using the 2'' line.

Cut a total of 25 sets.

Orange Wing Triangles.

Cut 8 per set.

Cut 25 sets.

To make my cutting easier, I folded a long orange 2'' strip in half and cut through two layers.  Use the same 2'' green line for quarter-square triangles. Cut 4 pairs for a total of 8 triangles per set.

You may also layer the folded orange strip underneath the red/neutral strip set and cut all pieces at once.

Sew the 100 red/neutral units on the LONG STRAIGHT GRAIN EDGE, keeping the sets of 4 together.

What?!  Yes.

Press seams gently to the red.

The outside edges will all be bias.  Don't fear the bias. Just treat it with some gentle respect. 

ODD SIZES!???

Because we are working with quarter-square triangles  - the math is going to be a bit weird for a while.

If your seam allowance is in the right place (Run another seam test from Part 1 if you need to) these units will measure 2 5/8''.

If you cut from squares, you will not have the nipped corners that this unit has, but don't worry about it. Nipped corners will be gone in future seams.

Work each set in a way that you can keep the same 8 matching wing triangles with the 4 matching red/neutral units.

Sew an orange triangle to the right side of the red/neutral unit. 

Keeping things in sets of 4!

Leaders & Enders come in handy here.  

Have you been working on our Easy Breezy challenge?

Press seams toward the orange triangle.

Add left wing triangles to the units.  Press seams toward orange triangles.

My 25 sets, ready to roll!

What size are these units?

Remember, there is more to come on this unit, so I am only giving unfinished sizes at this time.

If you put your big square ruler on top of your unit with the diagonal line running along the right side - you'll see that my triangle is 7 1/8'' on the longest side. I then pressed it really well, and it reached 7 1/4'' on the longest side.  If you are in between those two, you will be fine.

If you look at the height - you will see that this unit is 3 1/2'' tall with its nipped off upper corner, which means that those who have cut from squares will be 3 5/8'' tall from the center of the longest side up to the tip.

I can't stress this enough.  If your unit is SMALLER than this - your seam is still too fat.  Skinny it down.  if your unit is much bigger than this - you could lose the points around the center neutral triangle if you go to trim everything down.

Do what you can to fix the seam allowance so it gives you the correct results.  The job of the seam allowance is to bring you to unit size.  Adjust until it does.

And that's it for this week!  I hope that you'll be able to use any extra time to get yourself ready for the holidays ahead.  Bake those cookies, decorate that tree - we have so much to be grateful for.

I'll catch you back here next Friday, December 18 for Part 4.

For those who are stepping away to observe Hanukkah December 10-18, we wish you a joyous celebration with your families. This will all be waiting for you under the Grassy Creek tab at the top of the blog.  

Remember that there will be no clue released on Christmas, December 25th.  It will instead post Saturday, December 26th.

We had a sneaky release yesterday afternoon!

There is another new PDF pattern in the Quiltville Store.


The pattern for Sugar Top includes many full color photos to guide you to success each step of the way! 
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This quilt is made using a 60 degree triangle ruler that is at least 8'' tall - check the pattern description for more info.⁣ I used the Clearview Super 60 Triangle available in the Quiltville Store. 

Sugar Top is currently on sale in the Digital Patterns Section of the Quiltville Store for 25٪ off through Wednesday, December 16th - so HURRY! No coupon code needed.⁣

Quiltville Quote of the Day

The creative process is so very important to us all.⁣
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Creativity also heals my soul when I am hurting or worried or otherwise out of sorts.⁣
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It puts my world back in balance! 

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Do you feel the same?⁣

Have a great Friday, everyone!

 

This mystery is given for personal use only.  No part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying for sharing, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author.

Please no uploading and saving of this file with intent to share, email or distribute, either digitally or in hard copy. NOT FOR RESALE.

Please send your friends to my blog to print their clues. Thank you!