While I was away I was tempted to buy some precuts at the markets, and stopped myself with the thought that I just don't use them. I have a number of charm packs already, the remains of a layer cake that Keryn gave me and a jelly roll project that I'm not enthused about. I don't want to add to that little pile of guilt if I can help it.
I love seeing all the fabrics in a range, but there are always ones I wouldn't choose to work with, I hate the pinked edges and and I don't like the feeling of constraint that I 'shouldn't ' add any other fabrics. That's my silly perception, but it does affect my enthusiam. So I bought the fat quarters instead, which I know I will use.
Determined to use the charm packs I did have I started making sawtooth stars. (This block is square by the way, but I rotated and cropped a photo so it looks out of whack.)
These finish at six inches, and use four squares each, so I'm not going to get a lot from one pack, but I don't care. I've stopped trying to keep charms separate from the rest of my stash, and I'll just find similar fabric to make more stars.
From one square I cut four 2 3/8" squares and then cut them on the diagonal. These are the light triangles in the flying geese units that will make the star points. From another square I cut a 4 1/4" square and cut it twice on the diagonal. These will be the 'geese' in the flying geese units, and the background of the star. Hardly any wasted fabric here.
Then I cut four 2" squares from one charm; these are the corners of the block and a 3 1/2" square for the centre of the star.
There is a little bit of waste, but I can live with it, especially as I cut those larger bits into 1 1/4" strips for my little log cabin. So for me there's no waste at all.
I'm having fun making combinations of four squares, and I've picked out some other fabrics which will go with these. I have no idea what this range is, it was a generic charm pack of assorted fabrics (made by some shop because it didn't have pinked edges) and seems to have a variety of reproduction prints in it.
I'll have fun making more of these; I'm thinking perhaps a medallion quilt with these as a border, but I've got a lot more to make before I decide anything.
4 comments:
I don't care for the pinked edges either. I have been caught up in the craze and purchased some charm packs and a few jelly rolls. But they tend to just sit there. Either I need more for a project or something is lacking somewhere, so I just let them look pretty.
I started a project today with a charm pack that I won in a raffle. I like scrappy quilting so having just a little bit of each fabric suits me, but I generally don't buy them as I don't want a quilt shop or fabric manufacturer to decide what goes where etc for me!
Your stars look great.
These look great! Love the mix of fabrics!
I have only owned one precut, and it took me at least 3 years to use it... and I still don't love the project. Definitely, I understand not wanting to buy them.
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