Why MEG? Well, those are my initials, and I couldn’t come up with something more clever and unique as I was writing the introduction post, ha!
First things first – I cut a bunch of strips out of the background and set them aside. 15 total, each 3½ inches by width of fabric (WOF) – selvage to selvage.
After I set those aside (for a later part), I cut 3 more strips of the background fabric. Now, maybe some could get away with just 2, if the fabric was wide enough, but I used all of 2 plus a bit more of the third.
Out of one background strip, I sub-cut 4 strips, 9½ inch by 3½ inch.
I also cut a 3½ inch strip of my medium fabric. I paired this with one of the background strips, right sides together. Using my Essential Triangle Tool, I cut 16 triangles, ready to sew because they’re already right sides together.
Using the red 3 inch line on my ruler makes this part easy, and this is now my preferred method, whenever possible, for making half square triangle units.
After cutting out those half-square triangles, I finished the cutting before moving on to the sewing.
I also need 4 squares of the background and one square of the medium fabric, 3½ inch by 3½ inch. I was able to get most of what I needed from the two strips I’ve been using for half-square triangles. I had to cut one more of the background to get the number that I needed.
One more fabric to cut: from the fabric that has the most contrast with the background: 4- 6½ inch squares. For these, I cut a 6½ inch strip, then sub-cut into squares.
I began by sewing my half square triangles together and pressing them open. I trimmed the little dog/bunny ears, then arranged four half-square triangles, the large square and the small square like this. It is important to ensure that the pieces are laid out with the background fabrics to the outside and the medium fabrics are all “pointing” toward each other.
I sewed the half square triangle blocks to each other first. I now have essentially an uneven four-patch. So I can sew the top two units together and the bottom two units together.
And this is my unit all sewn and pressed. I pressed toward the plain squares where possible.
Then I had to repeat that process 3 more times for a total of 4 units. And now I can lay out my block, which is an uneven nine-patch and piece it together. Oh, and I pressed the seams toward the sashing strips. Yes, this baby is larger than most things I piece currently, but I love it.
It measures 21½ inches square.
And I love it in the black/gray/white version as well.
That’s it for this part – a lot of 3½ inch strips that will be used later and a giant Bear’s Paw block.