Sew Bittersweet Designs

When using the Tri-Recs Tool you will work primarily with strips – 1.5” to 6.5” wide by width of fabric (WOF). As seen in yesterday tutorial of my Scrappy Trees block – you can easily use this tool with scraps as well.

The Tri-Recs Tool comes with 2 acrylic triangles and 2 pamphlets full of instructions and block diagrams. The thing I love best about the tool is that it has notches in multiple spots for easy alignment of your fabrics.

When used correctly you will have 2 separate notches in your “rectangle” pieces.

It is these notches that allow for perfect alignment every time – which in turn helps to avoid unnecessary and tiresome trimming of your blocks.

I started out with 2 strips of Imperial Pheasant measuring 3.5” by WOF and I started cutting and sewing, absolutely no plan in mind. I simply wanted to work with the ruler and see what it could do. I then proceeded to create a block that I had a hard time looking at without going cross-eyed (it would be better with different fabric placement choices!), but in creating it I realized that I didn’t trim a single piece and my block measure exactly 12.5”x12.5”! Now I ask you, how often does that ACTUALLY happen?!?

As you can see I incorporated both tools creating triangles in squares and rectangles in the block. The fact that I didn’t have to trim just astounds me.

Next up, I wanted to create something that I dearly loved. Again, I had no real plan, but knew that whatever I made needed to be wall hanging size (Imperial Pheasant reminds me of my mom – especially these colors and Mother’s Day is coming…).

This time I cut 1 strip of the blue – 5.5” by WOF, 1 strip of cream 5.5” by WOF and I still had my 3.5” strips of blue and purple from the first block. I also cut 1 purple 5.5” square. I created this:

Using the 60⁰ Triangle Tool on the blue – I cut four 5.5” triangles. Using the Rectangle Tool and the cream, I cut 4 sets of 5.5” rectangle sections (8 total). I sewed those together and then pieced my block.

To make the borders I used the 60⁰ Triangle Tool only and cut alternating blue and purple 3.5” triangles. I pieced those together and added the borders. The border corners were 3.5” squares of the cream.

For more inspiration, my friend Michele from Quilting Gallery has made a gorgeous quilt using the Tri-Recs Tool. You can see her progress pictures here and you can see her finished quilt here. The versatility of the Tri-Recs Tool is beautifully demonstrated in Michele’s Quilt.

Things I like about the Tri-Recs Tool:

• The notches make it exceptionally easy to sew your sections accurately – when sewing with a consistent ¼” seam, no trimming is required. There is ZERO guess work!
• There is virtually no learning curve. The two pamphlets and the included diagrams are easy to use and follow – one quick perusal and I was off and creating.
• You can create finished blocks measuring 6.5” square.  Guiding star before borders was 15.5” square – lots of flexibility with size.
• This is a great ruler to make borders with – I have never done a triangle or rectangle border now (would never have considered it – too hard!) – now I think they will become a more regular design feature in my quilting projects.

Area’s For Improvement:

• I really don’t have any…believe it or not.  For both projects I created, I didn’t have any plan, I just started cutting and sewing and the projects went together beautifully, seamlessly and QUICKLY.

Final Thoughts:

If you are ready to conquer triangles and create some wonderful border details then it is time to purchase the Tri-Recs Tool. I didn’t realize just how much I needed this ruler until I had it! I know I will be using it often in future projects.

Do you have the Tri-Recs Tool? You can purchase yours from Fat Quarter Shop and make sure you also enter their giveaway on Monday’s post too!