Lupine & Laugher Mystery - Part Four!

12/12! Can you believe we are at Lupine & Laughter Part Four already?
(Okay, I'm writing this ahead - I honestly have no idea what will be going on in my life by this date, but I'm pushing through anyway!)
Part One had One Thing, Part Two had Two Things, Part Three had Three Things, Part Four has Four Things Times Two!

Today I'm Sharing a bit of our waterfall wonder from our Iceland Adventure!

I can still hear this roaring in my ears!

This is the kind of magnificence you have to experience first hand.

Beyond majesty.

There aren't enough words in any language.

The best memories -

Are made and shared with friends!

Let's Sew!

Click HERE for Part Four PDF.
It's time to dig into half-rectangles!

How many different tutorials are there for making half-rectangles?  Click HERE and find out. You can go down a rabbit hole with so many videos and methods.
If you have a favorite method - use it.  Just keep in mind the unfinished and finished sizes.
I tried with the skinny triangle from Tri-Recs (or the spike from Peaky & Spike) but found that I still needed to sew quite a bit scant to trim down to the right size. Always test for unit size! Cut a bit bigger if you need to so you have room to trim.
Unlike half-square triangles, half-rectangles are asymmetrical. You can't just rotate these to become the other thing. We’ll be making these in mirror image.

We will be making 25 sets of 8 matching as in the diagram above, with 4 units slanting to the left and 4 units slanting to the right. The units will measure 2'' X 3 1/2'' unfinished and finish at 1 1/2'' X 3'' in the quilt.

Because we've changed the angle of the diagonal seam, trimmed units will look like this:

Do you see that the seams do not go directly into the corners?  If they did they would be blunted off in the next seam. This is not a 45 degree angle.

We want the NEXT seam to land with sharp points, so after trimming your half-rectangle units you'll have 1/8'' margins at the pointy ends until we join them to the next pieces and THEN They'll come out right.

For those who wish to paper piece, click for PDF templates HERE. 

No directions for paper piecing are given, but there are many videos and tutorials to help you.  Just remember to set your stitch length to a smaller stitch to make the paper easier to remove.

Here I've extended the seam line into the seam allowance just so you can see that when trimmed, you will have that 1/8'' margin on your pointy ends. It may look funny when trimmed, but when the next seam is taken your seam will end up right in the corners of the unit.

My new favorite way:

Half-Rectangle Trim Tool

Not only does this work for multiple sizes, but it has the cutting directions right on the ruler. It makes trimming right facing and left facing half-rectangles super easy and I love the non-slip backing that Creative Grids provides.

This ruler is still sold out and my distributor doesn't have any more.  I am unsure when I will get more in. There are other rulers out there that do the same thing.  Please Google.

Our units finish at 1 1/2'' X 3'' so we'll cut rectangles 2 1/2'' X 5''. (If we went any shorter than 5'' the angle would be skewed and the unit would be off-grain on the outside edges.) 

Pair a neutral 2 1/2'' strip with a purple 2 1/2'' strip and place them on top of each other with both strips right sides up. I like the neutral strip on top for easier visibility.

Cut 4 pairs 2 1/2'' X 5''.

Stack two sets both right side up on the left, and two sets both right sides up on the right.

Cut sets on the diagonal in opposite directions.

This gives 8 pairs of triangles for 8 units: 2 left slant and 2 right slant.

Remembering that fabrics are NOT Right Sides together, pick up the top neutral triangle and bring the fat end to the pointy end of the purple triangle both right sides up.

You'll be saying "fat end to pointy end" a lot through this process, or you'll end up with a kite shape!

Once you are sure it will sew into a rectangle, fold the triangle over with right sides together, leaving pointy end dog ears at either end. Sew on the diagonal.

Switching to the other angle - still pointy end to fat end.

Pres units to the dark.

The ruler is easy to use. Simply slide the diagonal line on the diagonal seam of the right slanting unit until you can see that your unit lies beyond the ruler lines.

These units are longer than they are wide, so there is less waste on trimming the sides...there is a bit at the top and bottom to keep the angle correct and the straight of grain where it needs to be.

Trim up the side and across the top.

Rotate the unit and replace the ruler, aligning the unit size lines and diagonal line with the unit.  Trim up the remaining side and across the top. One Done!

For the left slant units, use the left slant side - SIDEWAYS for ease of cutting. Align the diagonal seam making sure all fits beneath the ruler and beyond the size lines.  Trim up the side and across the top.  Rotate unit and align with ruler lines to trim up the remaining two sides.

One set done in a snap!

25 sets of 8 with 4 left & 4 right in each set.

No matter how you make your half-rectangle units just keep in mind the unfinished size and finished size.

Units will measure 2'' X 3 1/2'' at this point and finish at 1 1/2'' X 3'' in the quilt.

That's it for this week!  See you back here next Friday 12/19 for Part Five.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Your creativity is only limited by the limits you put on it yourself! 

And always remember that comparison is the thief of joy. 

Get in there and create your heart out!

Happy Friday, everyone!

 

This mystery pattern is given for personal use only. 

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