I finished this quilt a few weeks ago but hadn’t documented it here on the blog yet! Spiraling Triangles is an alternate version of a mini quilt I created back in January for my partner in the MQG swap. That version featured a smaller triangle framed by a white background. This time around, I wanted to make a larger quilt and have the spiral motif continue right off the edges of the quilt.
Immediately, I knew that construction would be a challenge! My original mini quilt was foundation paper pieced, but that technique would be pretty cumbersome for a throw-sized quilt. So I had to go with templates instead! There were quite a few of them, and it took a ridiculous 40-50 sheets of paper to get them all printed properly. Taping them together was tedious.
But! The plan worked. I transferred each template to freezer paper for a couple reasons: 1) so that I could have one continuous template piece without any tape lines but 2) so that my template would stick to the fabric! Being able to adhere the freezer paper template temporarily to the fabric helped ensure that I cut each piece accurately — even the ones that were too big to fit on my cutting mat at one time.
Once I had prepared all my pieces, it was fairly straightforward to sew them together, working from center to outside. Here’s a shot of the “backside” above!
Another challenge for this quilt was choosing the fabrics to create the right color gradients. I used Kona Cotton, but struggled with differences between the color of my color card, and the color of the fabric I ordered. The pinks and blues worked out ok for me, but I ended up having to make not one but two extra orders of greens to get shades that worked. (And honestly, the progression of greens still isn’t quite right, but it’s close enough.)
Differences in dye lots is a pretty common thing with Kona but it was pretty frustrating. I can definitely see the appeal of custom dyeing fabric for a quilt like this!!
I chose the same quilting motif that I used on my original mini quilt, with lines radiating outward from each triangle “slice.” The center portion is quilted with an off-white color. The darker portions are quilted with two shades each of pink, green, and blue thread.
I used this rainbow jewel print from Hoffman for the backing. This print was featured in the Hoffman challenge a few years ago and I bought a few yards…but then didn’t end up making anything for the challenge. It was a fun backing for this quilt! (And surprise surprise — my girls loved it. Ha.)
The stats:
- Quilt measures 50″ x 60″.
- Top fabrics are all Kona Cotton.
- Backing is a Hoffman print from a few years ago.
- Facing is Kona Cotton.
- Machine quilted on my domestic Juki with Aurifil 50 wt thread in 7 different colors.
Great quilt Sarah. Thanks for sharing the how-to.
Such a fun result! The freezer paper suggestion is great — I’ve used plain newsprint and glue sticks for the same thing in past, but this would be a more stabilized process. Thanks!
I had wondered how hard it was to get the pieces cut; using freezer paper is the perfect solution. I hear you about dye lots and color variation; I think greens can be hard because they bridge warm and cool and a small dye change can make a huge difference in the end. I really love the motion the design creates.
So true about warm vs. cool on the greens!