60-Degree Quilt Tutorial - Part 2

If you missed the first part of this tutorial, you can find it here.  I'll add a button to my sidebar so you'll be able to find all the parts in one place if you decide to try it out later.  I'm figuring it out as I go, and I'm pretty sure there will be at least one more part, maybe two.    

Are you wondering how all of these pieces will fit together?  Me, too.  :-)  I have a lot of triangle units put together, and not a single one is the same size.  These are just a few of my units, and you can tell by looking at the bottom right corners how different they are.  It really doesn't matter, though. 

Separate your triangle units by size.  In the picture below, the two triangles on the left are almost identical.  The one on the right is just a little bigger.  When I'm ready to sew these into rows, I'll sew the triangle units together, then trim off the top of the unit on the right.  Remember that this isn't a "triangle quilt."  The important thing is that you cut everything at a 60-degree angle.  Your triangles will appear throughout the quilt accidentally.  And as you get into it, you'll probably figure out how to make a few triangles on purpose.

Filler Strips

I don't have quite enough triangle units put together to begin sewing them into rows yet.  But I'm thinking ahead (for once in my life), and anticipating that I'll need another large triangle here or there to fill up a row, or maybe an extra couple of inches to make some rows long enough without having to add an entire triangle unit.  So I'm making some "filler strips" as I go.  Here are some examples of a few.  I've highlighted the 60-degree line in yellow again, but you can go to the first part of the tutorial for more complete instructions. 

Example 1

Cut a few short strips the same width.  The length doesn't matter.  You can cut longer or shorter strips, depending on how long you want your filler strip to be.  The width of these strips is 2 1/4".
  

Stack your strips so that the ends on the right are aligned.  Trim.

Rotate the strips so the trimmed ends are on the left.  Re-stack them so the uncut ends are aligned.  Trim.

Lay out your 60-degree shapes and decide how you'll sew them together.

Place two pieces right sides together, and offset them so that the 1/4" seam allowance begins at the  "valley" where the two pieces meet (see yellow arrows below).

Add the third shape, and you have a filler strip ready to use where you need to enlarge a triangle unit or fill in some space later.

This strip was the perfect size to add to a smaller triangle -- just a tiny bit longer than the triangle unit.

Sew the filler strip to any side of the triangle unit.

Trim the extra fabric from the filler strip.

Rotate, then trim the other side of the filler strip.

Example 2

This filler strip is a little fussier, but I like all the triangles in a row.  I'll probably use this to fill in space between two triangle units when I sew the rows together.  Start with two scraps of fabric.  Looks like these are between 2 1/4" and 2 1/2", but you can use any size.  I'm working with small scraps, but you can make your filler strip wider if you use larger scraps.

Trim the top strip at a 60-degree angle.

Rotate, then trim the other side of the top strip.

Now trim the bottom strip.

Rotate, then trim the remaining side of the bottom strip.  You should have a 60-degree diamond shape. 

Sew a strip to the diamond shape.  The yellow strip below is wide enough to end up with a triangle after trimming.

If you'd like to make sure you maintain the triangle points in your filler strip, trim the extra strip so that the quarter-inch line of the ruler intersects with the seam line a quarter of an inch from the bottom of the filler strip (see yellow star in the below picture).     

Trim the yellow strip.

Rotate, then trim again.

Sew another strip to continue making the filler strip.  The green strip below isn't wide enough to make a full triangle, but it doesn't matter.  Just keep sewing different sizes of strips and see what happens.

Trim the strip.

Rotate, then trim the other end of the strip.

Sew another strip of fabric to continue making the filler strip.  Trim. 

This time, I trimmed to make a diamond shap instead of a triangle.  Doesn't matter -- just maintain the 60-degree angle throughout the filler strip.

Just keep sewing and trimming until your filler strip is the length you need.

Example 3

In this example, I sewed a few long strips together, then cut triangles and a few filler strips.  I'll probably use these filler strips for building triangle units.  Sew together a few strips, then trim at a 60-degree angle on the right side. 

Cut to make a triangle.

Cut again to make another triangle.

To cut filler strips, place a line of the ruler along the trimmed edge of the strip set. 

Continue cutting strips.  Save the leftover piece on the end -- you may be able to use it for edge blocks later.

Be back later to show you what I'm doing with edge blocks.  To all of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, hope you're having a wonderful holiday weekend.  

Kim