1000 Pyramids

Having just re-read the last posting I must apologise for going right off and swearing and losing sight of the subject of this blog. Guess I was just hoppin' mad.

Now - back to the subject.

Somewhere over the past 13 years or so I read an article on how to do a quick and easy 1000 pyramid quilt. Traditionally, this scrappy quilt, a one-piece block, would have been hand sewn using templates and each triangle cut out separately. Often it was done as a charm quilt i.e. every pyramid would be done in a different fabric - no two the same.

P.S. I hate templates!

With this technique, it is all done on the sewing machine and leaves a lot of scope for creativity, but, will not be a charm quilt. Charming maybe! It is a good way of using up left-over fabrics from other projects though. The one pictured, is one I did quite a few years ago and became my children's favourite for throwing over their legs on a coolish night. It was made from all the "ugly" fabrics I seemed to have collected at the time, but it was done purely for trying the technique out. The most important component in achieving success with this style is the use of light and dark. This gives the quilt depth and interest.

Firstly, cut two strips from two different fabrics. (one light coloured, one dark). The length will depend on how much of the fabric you have. Remember, this is a scrap quilt. The width I used in my quilt was 4 1/2 inches, but if you want a quicker result cut them 5 or 5 1/2 (wouldn't go any bigger than this). If you are a devil for punishment, you may cut them smaller.

Put the two strips right sides together and sew a 1/4 inch seam along both long sides. Yes - both.

Place your ruler with the 60 deg line along the top edge of the strips to make your first cut.

Then flip the ruler as shown, and cut.

Open out and press to dark side. You end up with a parallelogram.Join this parallelogram to others and voila! you have your pyramids joined.

Nobody believes me when I say I did not cut one triangle to make this quilt! Have fun!!!

Sue has also done one using this technique - so have a look at a different quilt altogether.