Let's start at the very beginning: Step1 on page 4 of your Crimson Christmas pattern.
We're going to use all of the 2 ½" strips that you cut from your fabrics. You should have four 2 ½" strips in shades of red, four in shades of mauve, and four in shades of white (or four shades of the colors you're using for your own version). Here's a checklist for you:
Red 2 ½" Strips (one of each):
🔲 R1 - first light red
🔲 R2 - second light red
🔲 R4 - second medium red
🔲 R5 - first dark red
Mauve 2 ½" Strips (one of each):
🔲 M1 - first light mauve
🔲 M2 - second light mauve
🔲 M4 - second medium mauve
🔲 M5 - first dark mauve
White 2 ½" Strips (one of each):
🔲 W1 - white
🔲 W2 - creamy white
🔲 W4 - second grayish white
🔲 W5 - tannish white
After you have all of your 2 ½" strips handy, you'll use the 60º Diamond Ruler to cut them into 2 ½" triangles. Here's the total number of 2 ½" triangles that you'll cut from each color and shade:
(24) Red 2 ½" Triangles:
🔲 (6) R1 - first light red
🔲 (6) R2 - second light red
🔲 (6) R4 - second medium red
🔲 (6) R5 - first dark red
(24) Mauve 2 ½" Triangles:
🔲 (6) M1 - first light mauve
🔲 (6) M2 - second light mauve
🔲 (6) M4 - second medium mauve
🔲 (6) M5 - first dark mauve
(28) White 2 ½" Triangles:
🔲 (8) W1 - white
🔲 (8) W2 - creamy white
🔲 (6) W4 - second grayish white
🔲 (6) W5 - tannish white
Below are several videos to walk you through cutting and organizing your 2 ½" triangles with the 60º Diamond Ruler. Be sure to trim the tips of the triangles - do NOT skip this step! This is probably the most important thing you can do to help you sew the units together confidently and accurately. Future-you will thank now-you! Plus, I included several BONUS videos with some fun and helpful tips.
Fabric Labels for Subcuts:
Here's the PDF of the Fabric Labels for the subcuts that you'll cut from the strips:
Step 2: Arranging the 2 ½" Triangle Units
After cutting all of your 2 ½" triangles, you'll arrange them into units, or groupings. I walk you through placing the shades of each color into units in each of the videos below.
As you're sorting and arranging your 2 ½" triangles, begin identifying which edge of the triangle has the straight grain. This becomes super-duper important when we sew them together, so becoming aware of the grainlines now will help you when you start sewing.
BONUS: Fabric Placement Guide for 2 ½" Triangles:
Here's a helpful fabric placement guide to help you out with each of the red, mauve, and white 2 ½" triangles units:
BONUS Features:
These are some of my favorite tips to help you build confidence and fine tune your skills:
Step 2 (cont'd): Sewing the 2 ½" Triangles into Units
Before taking your first stitch, it's extremely important to check if your machine is sewing an ACCURATE ¼" seam. You might be thinking, “Cristy, what do you mean? Don't all machines always sew an accurate ¼" seam?" Unfortunately, my answer would be no, they don't (mine included).
Not to worry! I made a helpful video for you that shows how to check and set up your machine for an accurate ¼" seam, without changing a single setting on your machine.
Next, grab all of your 2 ½" triangles and get ready to sew!
We're going to start with our (24) Red 2 ½" Triangles:
- (6) R1 - first light red
- (6) R2 - second light red
- (6) R4 - second medium red
- (6) R5 - first dark red
Keep in mind that we're making 6 units with our Red 2 ½" triangles: 3 with R1 at the bottom, and 3 with R2 at the bottom. I included the BONUS 2 ½" Triangle Placement Guide down below for you as an easy visual reminder.
First things first - we need to arrange and align the first two 2 ½" triangles, R1 and R2, with straight grain to straight grain. Sewing these edges together add stability and contains the bias grain at the center of the unit. This is really helpful for preventing wonky rippling as you sew more and more pieces together.
Preparation is key!
Even though these are small pieces, I prep each pair by glue basting the edges together. Glue basting helps improve my piecing accuracy by stabilizing the grainlines and by preventing shifting as I align and sew at my machine. I love that I can prep a whole bunch of units at once and sew them lickety-split without having to fiddle with placement or take out pins while I sew. It takes a little bit of extra time on the front end, but I save A LOT of time on the back end. Plus, I end up so much happier with my results! I'll share my glue basting technique with you throughout my videos and I hope you'll give it a try.
If glue basting isn't your thing, no worries! Use your favorite prep method (pins, clips, or aligning as you sew) for your 2 ½" triangles.
Sewing & Pressing the Seams:
We're sewing all of the seams with a ¼" seam allowance AND we're pressing the seams open. I generally piece with a scant ¼" seam allowance, and press to the side, but sewing 60º triangles together is different than sewing rectangles and squares together. I end up with better, more accurate results when I sew them with an accurate ¼" seam allowance.
We're going to have a lot of intersecting seams, and pressing the seams open will reduce bulk and will maintain the accuracy of the ¼" seam. But, we need to get set up for success before taking that first stitch. Here's my best tips for setting up for open seams:
- Set your machine to a short stitch - I use a 2.0
- Use strong, yet fine thread. I'm using Efina by Wonderfil. It's a 40wt cotton
- Use Schmetz Machine Embroidery Needles - they're ball point, heat tempered, and have a polished eye
I made a couple of short sewing preparation videos for you too - enjoy!
Continue Sewing & Pressing the Seams:
Join piece R5 to the right hand side of your R1 & R2 units. Then join R4 to the left hand side. Stay mindful of matching the straight grains, and press all of the seams open.
These videos will walk you through each step in my own process for sewing and pressing the seams. I hope you find some helpful tips and suggestions.
Next, we'll use our (24) Mauve 2 ½" Triangles to make each of the Mauve Triangle Units.
- (6) M1 - first light mauve
- (6) M2 - second light mauve
- (6) M4 - second medium mauve
- (6) M5 - first dark mauve
Keep in mind that we're making 6 units with our Mauve 2 ½" triangles: 3 with M1 at the bottom, and 3 with M2 at the bottom. In the next video, I'll walk you through making the Mauve Triangle Units from beginning to end.
And last but not least, we'll use our (28) White 2 ½" Triangles to make each of the White Triangle Units.
-
(8) W1 - white
-
(8) W2 - creamy white
- (6) W4 - second grayish white
- (6) W5 - tannish white
Keep in mind that we're making 4 FULL units and 4 Partial units with our White 2 ½" triangles. In the next two videos, I'll walk you through arranging and making the FULL and the PARTIAL White Triangle Units from beginning to end.
Step 3: Making the Split Triangle Strip Sets
Next, grab all of your 3 ½" strips and get ready to cut the rectangles for your split triangle units. You can use your favorite rectangle ruler to cut them into 3 ½" x 4 ¾" rectangles. This measurement is different than in the pattern and that's intentional. It's going to help you with cutting and sewing accuracy. I'll walk you through each step in the videos below.
Later, you're going to sew these rectangles together into a strip set, along the 4 ¾" sides. It's very easy for the edges of strip sets to end up looking like stepping stones, so if the rectangles start out at 4 ¾" wide, you're giving yourself the gift of wiggle room when you go to trim the strip set to 4 ½" wide. Here's the total number of 3 ½" x 4 ¾" rectangles that you'll cut from each color and shade:
(7) Red 3 ½" x 4 ¾" rectangles:
🔲 (4) R1 - first light red
🔲 (3) R2 - second light red
(6) Mauve 3 ½" x 4 ¾" rectangles:
🔲 (3) M3 - first light mauve
🔲 (3) M4 - second medium mauve
(6) White 2 ½" Triangles:
🔲 (3) W1 - white
🔲 (3) W4 - second grayish white
Step 4: Sewing the Split Triangle Units
In Step 4, we'll sew our 3 ½" x 4 ¾" rectangles together into strip sets for our split triangles. We're going to sew these rectangles together along the 4 ¾" sides.
I like to glue baste and chain piece these and I'll walk you through those steps in the next video.
Here's a quick reference for the fabric placement of each strip set:
RED - 7 pieces: R1 + R2 + R1 + R2 + R1 + R2 + R1
MAUVE - 6 pieces: M3 + M4 + M3 + M4 + M3 + M4
White - 6 pieces: W4 + W1 + W4 + W1 + W4 + W1
After sewing and pressing the seams open, we'll trim the strip set to 4 ½" wide. To help make sure that your seams in the strip stay straight as you trim, align the seams along measurement lines of your ruler. This prevents accidentally trimming a long side and ending up and with an angled seam. Cut just a smidge off of each long side to trim the strip down to an accurate 4 ½". Check out the second video below to see how I did it.
Next, we'll cut 4 ½" split triangles from each strip set. Using your 60º Triangle Ruler, you'll align the 4 ½" triangle line along the bottom of the strip and the blunt tip of the ruler will align at the top. Slide the ruler along the strip until the solid black center line is laying right on top of the seam. Then you'll cut along both sides of the ruler and trim off the points.
IMPORTANT!!:
When you cut the Mauve and White strip sets, be sure to that your first cut is made on the correct fabric color: M3 for Mauve and W4 for White. Otherwise, ALL of the split triangles will end up with the wrong color on the wrong (which is exactly what I did for ALL of my own Mauve and White split triangles 😭)
Step 5: Joining the 2 ½" Triangle + Split Triangle Units
The last thing to do is to join the split triangle units to the 2 ½" triangle units. I also glue baste these and it's a game changer for getting those intersecting seams in the middle to match up. And I walk you through each step in the video below.
You'll end up with a total of 6 Red groupings of the split triangle units + the 2 ½" triangle units.
Repeat each step to join the Mauve and White split triangles to their 2 ½" triangle units.
You'll end up with a total of 5 Mauve groupings of the split triangle units + the 2 ½" triangle units.
And you'll have a total of 4 White groupings of the split triangle units + the 2 ½" triangle units. Save the partial White units for next week. We'll put them together in step 16b.
Now that all of your groupings of units are finished, go ahead and lay them out to see how lovely they look together. Take some pictures and post them in our quilt along group too! I can't wait to see them.
You're doing an amazing job and I'm so proud of you! Please reach out with any questions. Either reply to this email or post your question in our quilt along group.
Next week, we'll cut the 4 ½" strips into diamond pieces and add them to these units.
