Sunday afternoon was all about stitching!! One of my tasks was to play with the new Peaky And Spike tool from Marti Michell. The tool set sells for $14 and is set up to work for "spike" triangles that are from 1" tall to 6" tall.
She has named it in honor of her good friend, Doreen Speckman who shared so many good piecing ideas in her too short life as an American quilter. If you aren't familiar with Michell Marketing's tools they all feature "engineered" corner trimming. Notice that all the sharp pointy (troublesome) tips of the triangles are trimmed away during the cutting process.
The instruction booklet that comes with the tool has several block ideas and I was drawn to a windmill block. Since there was a left over strip set laying on the cutting table, I whacked it up.
Why you ask? Well to begin, it eliminates bulk and those annoying pointy tips that get sucked down into our zigzag throat plate openings. My favorite benefit is the ease of matching odd shaped pieces. I've laid the two tools "right sides together" so you can see the perfect alignment!
A piece of white provided some background (Peaky) triangles. The little purple triangles at the ends of each line on the tool are a reminder to trim those corners before leaving the cutting mat -- very important step!!
Soon I had a short stack of these units! Aren't they fun? Could be little pine trees or Santas or what else?
Four of them make this windmill block which is fun! I only had 5 of the stripped triangles (2 with a red base and 3 with a blue base) so I did half and half and I rather like it!
Oh, gosh -- here comes an idea!?! Scrappy windmills! So I reached down into one of my strip boxes and put together this green/pink/yellow combo.
Then I pulled a few hunks of old novelty prints off a shelf and started to audition the idea of alternating these blocks (scrappy, of course) with a plain square of a large scale print.
This one could work.
But this is the one!!
I bought this cutie when I got the news that my first grandchild was on the way and have never used it (that was 9 years ago). She's a bit old for it now but it will make a cute little gal's quilt just the same!
Now I have to settle in for a session with my Electric Quilt program and draft a layout!! Not that I need another project, but I've had too much caffeine this morning and can't help myself?!?
Back to the studio!!
Mary Huey
Another wonderfully useful tool from Ms Michell. Your scrappy windmill blocks are lovely; make something nice with them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marly!!
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