A Bump in the Road . . . .

So here's my stack of pieced triangle units for Starlight, the pattern by Camille for thimble blossoms.  (click here for pattern detail)  They went together perfectly, and by using the Creative Grids 60 degree triangle for the pieces and parts, the points lined up perfectly to create the required 1/4" space above those triangle points.  So the only thing left to do was to put the pieced triangles and large floral triangles on my design wall and start sewing everything together.  

But then I noticed that the large triangles that I cut, at the required pattern size, were not big enough!

My pieced triangle  units are an 1/2" larger than the cut triangles.  I could not for the life of me figure out where I went wrong, because I checked and double checked and squared up every step along the way.  Then a friend figured out my problem, using the 60 degree triangle created this difference.  

The pattern says, "Using your rotary cutter and small triangle template (or a 60 degree ruler)…." Note is says 60 degree ruler, not 60 degree triangle.  I cut my large floral triangles out first, because I wanted to make sure I had enough fabric for those big units plus the small points for the centers.  And I just barely had enough fabric as it was.  But had I not cut them first, all I needed to do was to cut bigger triangles and everything would be perfect, but that's not possible now.

So this is where I am, I have a beautiful stack of floral triangles and another beautiful stack of pieced triangles, but they don't go together, so at this point I figure I have 3 options:

1.  Throw it all in the trash.  (I bought the floral fabric in London, that's not happening)

2.  Buy more floral fabric and cut larger triangles and keep the pieced triangles as is.  (I really want to use this fabric, not fabric that's the same but not the fabric I bought.)

3.  Take the white triangles off the pieced units, un-sew the the pieced two triangle units, trim a 1/4" off those triangles, sew them back together, trim the white triangle units to a new size, sew them back on.

So really, I only have one option, and that's number 3, and that's  my plan.  I have started un-sewing the  pieced units but it's not fun, and the thought of trimming and sewing them all together again has really taken the wind out of my sails.

I keep thinking of how hard I worked last week each morning to get through my To Dos in order to get up to my sewing room to work on those triangle units each afternoon, all the while the large floral triangle units, that I cut first, were just sitting there, wrong.  I've lost that loving feeling for this project, I'm hoping once I get those pieced triangle units down to the size I need, and start putting everything on my design wall, things will look up.

If you're going to make starlight, I recommend using the Creative Grids 60 degree triangle, it makes the piecing a breeze, just cut your large triangle units a 1/2" larger and you'll be great.  Or better yet, measure your pieced triangle units, preferably after the first one, not the 124th one, and see where you stand, that's the size you need to cut your large triangles.  And  finally, I guess there's always the option of just following the pattern, but where's the fun in that!