- A couple of weeks ago, I received an email
asking me, what can you do with striped fabric?
I started to answer the question
and then the whole topic just exploded
into its own video.
Because we all have them.
And they creep into our stashes
when we purchase pre cuts,
because they're part of almost every fabric line.
Stripes are, let's say spirited.
They can be dynamic and striking,
but if you're not attentive, they can misbehave.
So today's video is all about stripes.
The variations, the tricks,
and how you can use them in blocks
to use up your stash.
So stick with me and I'll show you how to do it.
(relaxed piano music)
Hi there, I'm Karen Brown of Just Get It Done Quilts.
I give you tips, tricks and strategies
to help you make the quilt that you want to make.
And if you would like to support my channel,
please hit that subscribe button.
And I'd like to thank today's sponsor, Skillshare.
There's striped fabric in almost every fabric line.
They come in different sizes,
different patterns, different repeats.
Some are symmetrical, some are not.
Some are on the straight grain.
Some are on the cross grain.
Some you don't even know are stripes
until you're across the room.
But what they all have in common is direction.
They look very different on the horizontal
from the vertical.
So you need to pay attention to keep your stripes in line,
but you can also have a lot of fun
when they intersect.
So you have heard names like pinstripe, candy stripe,
rugby stripes, regatta stripes.
They all come from men's wear.
But as quilters, we really only need to know
three broad classifications.
These are two colour and the stripes are the same thickness.
They come in so many different thicknesses
that they have their own sub names
like banker stripes, Bengali stripes, cabana stripes.
Because the stripes are balanced,
our eyes are always trying to average them out.
So, a blue red stripe will become kind of purple-ish.
And if you pair red with a grey,
it's amazing how pink that grey can turn.
The higher the contrast,
the harder for our brains to average them.
So, sometimes you might feel like you're going cross-eyed.
Mirror prints can have two colours or more,
and the stripes can be multiple thicknesses.
The key point is that there's somewhere,
a line that you can draw down the middle,
where on one side of the line
is a reflection of what's on the other.
The stronger the symmetry,
the easier it is on your eyes.
When the stripes are narrow,
they can act very similar to the balanced stripes.
But when they're large, like this tulip pink stripe,
you can get some very dramatic results.
Unbalanced, when I throw these up,
you might feel like you're living in the 70s again.
I'm pretty sure my brother had wallpaper in his bedroom
similar to this.
This kind of stripe makes your brain do extra work
because it's constantly looking for the symmetry,
which it never finds.
There's only a repeat.
So these ones already have the drama packed in.
Normally your stripes run parallel to your selvedges
and we cut them in small strips
and we can use them for binding,
we can cut them in broader strips
and we can use them for borders.
But you will have different looks
in your borders depending on the type of stripe you use.
And you may have to fussy cut them
to get the symmetry of the stripe
to work with the symmetry of your quilt.
So it's important to audition your stripes
before you cut them.
And in sashing, you need to be careful
that your stripes support your block design.
That is, the boldness and the colour of the stripe
doesn't distract from your piecing.
Sometimes the stripes run perpendicular to the selvedges
and we call this a cross grained stripe.
The advantage to this kind of stripe
is now when you put all those pieces together,
these long stripes, that can be the length of your quilt,
which is great for borders,
giving you the illusion of piecing
and with a mitre cut,
a little bit of drama in the corners.
Now diagonal stripes are not common.
Diagonal stripes are great to use in your bindings
because they produce this fun candy cane effect
without having to cut your strips on the bias.
And with a little bit of extra fussy cutting,
they can work in both your bindings and your sashing.
So all of this, bindings, borders and sashing
works fine when you have yardage,
but many of us only have fat quarters or smaller.
What can you do with fabric that size?
Well, we can use them in our piecing.
And you can get totally different results
depending on how you cut it.
Now, I know I'm stating the obvious
when I say the simplest way to use stripes
is in squares and rectangles.
I'm saying it out loud because this is a fast and easy way
to recycle old shirts into a memory quilt.
Blocks with big bands of colour
also give you the illusion of piecing
and save you a tonne of work.
Take the piece for a test drive before you cut
to see if you like the stripe parallel to the long side
or to the short side.
And if you feel like
a bit of tension in your quilt, use both.
A bit of magic happens when you sew stripes
with your HSTs.
Cut your squares from the same strip of fabric.
When you sew them together,
this will produce two HSTs
that have their stripes going in an L.
You can collect these HST blocks
and sew them in a quilt.
You can make big ones
and use them as cornerstones in your quilt,
or small ones and use them
as cornerstones in your block.
Now, note that these pairs are not identical.
The midpoint on the sewing line
falls in a different spot.
This doesn't matter so much if your stripes are narrow,
but when they're wide or unbalanced,
this can make a big difference.
If you want to avoid this and have matching sets,
you need to cut identical HSTs,
or half square triangles, from the same strips.
I like to use this Easy Angle ruler to make mine.
And when I cut my strips,
I like to have two strips, identical,
right sides together, on top of each other.
So when I cut my triangle, I have a sewing set.
I have a matched pair.
You'll get one pattern from the bottom triangles,
and you'll get a second pattern from the top triangles.
This is also a place
where you can use your diagonal stripes,
getting nice starburst layouts.
When you use the HST eight at a time method,
you make two sets of four HSTs.
The regular way of making the quarter square triangle block
is fast and easy if you are mixing
and matching your stripes.
This makes a cool block
and it's so great for scrappy quilts.
You can also align your stripes
to give the illusion of a square and square block.
I like to make a stack of four fabrics,
and I make sure that all the stripes are aligned.
Cut your strip of fabric, align your ruler,
that is, the long side of the quarter square triangle,
along the base of the strip.
Now, I use this quarter square triangle ruler,
but you can just make a ledge
along your regular ruler, the same size.
And cut, you will need four for a set.
And these blocks also can be combined together
to make a great quilt.
You can also make your strips perpendicular to your stripe.
Centre the ruler on a strip to cut,
it makes this starburst pattern.
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This time I'm using my 60 degree triangle ruler.
As with the quarter square triangle block,
you can cut your stripes
parallel to your ruler with the stripe
to make a great hexagon block where the stripes align,
or you can cut your pieces perpendicular,
against the stripe, where the stripes form a starburst.
But that's not all you can do with this shape.
You can make chevrons, you can make mirrored diamonds.
You can make chevron diamonds,
and you can make tumbling blocks.
The 45 degree triangle ruler
will produce very similar results
to the 60 degree one,
but this time we're working with an octagon.
They can either align or they can be perpendicular.
A couple of last notes here.
I've said it several times, but before you cut,
always use a template or even a mirror set
to find the best way to cut your stripes
before you actually cut them.
Because you can get such a variety of results.
All of these blocks, not just the first one,
but all of them are great places
to use up old shirts,
for either a memory quilt or just recycling.
But these are also great blocks to grow over time
as you use up your stash and your scraps.
You can also use these design ideas in other blocks.
Choosing whether you align your stripes
parallel to each other, or make them intersect
for more energy.
This was one crazy video for me.
It took way longer than I thought it would,
but I hope this information helps you in your quilting.
Remember, you can download all my free stash buster patterns
on my website at justgetitdonequilts.com.
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And of course you can download
all my stash buster patterns at justgetitdonequilts.com.
So take care and I'll see you next time.