It's So Piecey

OK, I know that "piecey" is not really a word.  But perhaps it should be!  It comes to mind when I think of the Half Square Triangle quilt top, now completed, pin basted and ready to quilt.

I took this pic before basting.

It's a lap size quilt, 50 x 54".  But it contains 364 fabric triangles!

I mentioned earlier that this was my first real adventure with half square triangles.  So I learned a few things as well:
Triangles make points when you sew them together.  Points make for bulky overlapping seams.  You can see that the individual square blocks were sewn as normal, with the seam pressed toward the print fabric.  But it became apparent when sewing the blocks together that the seams were going to have to be pressed open, it was going to be too bulky and bumpy otherwise.  So one lesson learned :  plan on pressing seams open.  Should I have gone back and pressed all of the individual block seams open as well?  I don't know-- but I'll let you know if I get a citation from The Quilt Police for Inconsistent Seam Management.

Another, related item:  when dealing with bulky overlapping seams, sewing with the walking foot will make it go much easier!  I struggled with the first row, then realized it could be a lot easier if I just switched sewing machine feet.  Problem solved.

It felt just a little tedious to piece this quilt, although I'm thrilled with it now.  But I thought about it, and realized why, and why the term "piecey" is so appropriate.

 

This quilt:  15 pieces.

68 pieces.

38 pieces.











You get the idea.  364 is a lot of pieces.

I'm still meditating on a quilting pattern, but I'm thinking about a strong, straight line grid of some sort, maybe following the rows of zig zag.  I do really like it when quilting looks "thready" (yet another made-up word, yet it's so descriptive!), that is, when the quilting is big part of the whole look of the quilt, not just holding it together.  Particularly on a modern and scrappy quilt like this, it's a look I really like.