Triangle Paper for October's Monthly Color Challenge

Wait til you see all these triangles!!!

This month's block for the 2020 Monthly Color Challenge has either: 

• lots of flying geese      or 
• lots of half-square triangles. 

The block is the October entry for this year of Patterns by Jen's Block of the Month.  Pattern is available for free all month from Jen.  See below for links to other bloggers showing off October's block.

I'm a bit of a non-rule-follower, so I often don't read the directions for a quilt block made up of components that I can easily discern.  And when I saw the diagram for October's block, my first thought was: HST's.

Flying geese or half-square triangles?

I rushed to my stash of interfacings and such to find some Triangle Paper.  If you are making lots of identical HST's (and there are 32 in this block, if you count them the way I did), nothing is finer than Triangle Paper by Primitive Gatherings for cranking them out accurately in bulk.  (Close second: Thangles, which use the same-size strips as other components of your block, thus eliminating possible 3/8" or 7/8" cutting.)

 

Thangles as used in February's block

 One downside to the use of both Triangle Paper and Thangles is the need for papers matching the specific size in your block.  Which I didn't happen to have.  Oops...

[Side note: Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts has a brief tutorial on different HST papers, including a few that I was not aware of.  If you happen to have Triangle Paper to make 1-1/2" finished HST's, you would need two 10" squares of fabric (1 each of focus fabric and background fabric) in order to make the number required for this month's block.  This would replace the fabrics needed for the flying geese specified.]

So then I looked more closely at the block and its instructions--doh, flying geese!

Another opportunity to practice 4-at-a-time flying geese.  I chose a fat-quarter of a textured olive solid as the focus fabric (been in the stash a long time; I have made an effort this year to use my hoarded FQ stash, as it overfloweth) and a coordinating houndstooth to the one used in May's block for the background fabric.

Feels good to use my stash.  And end up with a cute block to boot.

2020 Monthly Color Challenge - October

Want to see how other folx have interpreted this block?  Check out the others on this list.  (While you're at it, be sure and leave a comment or two.  It's not as easy as clicking "like", but we bloggers really appreciate the love of every single comment.)

Fawn of Quilty Creations by Fawn

Roseanne of Home Sewn by Us

Stephanie of Steph Jacobson Designs

Sheila of So This is Kentucky

Alla of rainbows. bunnies. cupcakes (that's me!)

Kathy B. of Kathy's Kwilts and More

Kathy N. of Penny for my thoughts

Joanne of Everyone Deserves a Quilt

October also starts the 4th quarter.  Important because of the PRIZES awarded. So thankful to these industry sponsors who generously show their support:

           

       

    

2020 Monthly Color Challenge - progress so far

I have been stitching a block each month of 2020 for the Monthly Color Challenge, a free BOM generously run by Jen of Patterns by Jen.  As we head toward the final quarter of the year, it's time to look back at what I have accomplished so far.

This year's color story is themed around the world of birds.  I had a fabulous flamingo print that I wanted to showcase, so I pulled that out first.  And then delved into my phenomenal stash.  I recently determined that my fat quarters were overflowing their designated storage area, so I "shopped" heartily from those bins.  

(Confession: I have had the habit of collecting fat quarters and then never cutting into them. Finally realized that they are not precious, and should be used.  Because that way I can buy more!)

January: yellow (finch)

Fussy cut the yellowest parts of a yellow/gold tonal chevron print for the focus fabric here (this fussy-cutting will be a repeating theme)

 

February: aqua (indigo bunting)

Prime example of a hoarded, uncut fat quarter: hand-dyed batik dark teal bought at a maker's fair over 10 years ago(!)  Wanted to use the aqua peacock fabric seen in my original fabric pull photo, but I have another plan that will bring the peacocks into the final quilt.

 

March: orange (oriole)

Surprised that I had so many mottled fabrics!  They look really good in these blocks.

 

April: purple (honey creeper)

I went rogue: main block is made from a metallic dark purple print and a lavender solid.  But the outer corners are a mottle batik--which will also be used in a frame around the block.  Because by this point in the year, I had come up with a plan for how I wanted to put these blocks together.  Stay tuned...

May: green (budgerigar)

Another example of fussy-cutting: the green here came from a green-brown floral.  It was a good thing the focus green bits were so small in size for this block--I would have had to choose a different fabric otherwise.

June: blue (blue bird)

 Another metallic (I think that might be a mini-theme here) and a mottle cloud print.  Blue is a hard color to find in my stash...

July: rust (American robin)

This ended up as a really busy block.  Focus fabric is another metallic.  Background fabric is leftover from a quilt made near the beginning of my quilting journey (Y2K?) And I tried the same outer-corner trick as with April's purple block.  Not sure it was entirely successful here.

Sampler quilt wisdom: I have never made a Block of the Month/sampler quilt where I loved every single block.  Only once have I chosen to leave out the hated block.  In the scope of a final, completed quilt, even the "failure" blocks have had a welcome home and contributed to the whole.  So I will embrace this ugly duckling block and press on...

 

August: pink (flamingo)

After being super excited to use the flamingo print shown at the top of this post, I chose a different flamingo print for August's block.  Metallic fuchsia Fairy Frost is the focus fabric, with 2 different flamingo prints and a mottled polka dot playing in the background.  (Flamingo prints here are from my job as a sales rep for a Japanese fabric importer. So many cute animal prints slide through my fingertips; sometimes I succumb and keep a few swatches after a line has sold out.)

September: cinnamon (cinnamon teal)

 Another color of metallic Fairy Frost, and another mottle.  Realized after I saw other people's blocks posted that I had assembled mine in a different way... oh, well.  Done is better than perfect.

 

Here we are: 9 months done out of 12.  I have started assembling blocks and I am in love with this setting!!!

"In a Box" quilt setting

Quickly realized that I need to wait until I have all the blocks--this particular setting technique doesn't allow for rearranging along the way.  Fine, I have a few other things to keep me busy until December...

Don't you?