31 July 2012

Sharp Chevrons

Rainy days.

Perfect for watching old musicals, sitting on the couch with a cat or two, and some blog catch-up.

I've seen quite a few requests from you about how I made these very sharp, precise chevrons last year for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee:


Well, to make 'em, I sketched out quadrant templates on graph paper, and sewed together a bunch of 1.5" colored strips and .75" strips of white and trimmed (and trimmed), winging it a whole lot, holding the strips up to the sketch to check on positioning.

Halfway through, I wondered why I wasn't just using a paper foundation.  Too lazy and stubborn to go make copies,  I finished my blocks using the original method anyway.  Silly.

That's probably not your style, so I created a paper-piecing template, available for free via Google Doc! It's a little bit rough around the edges, but it's a pretty literal digital interpretation of my original sketch.  **If you access the templates via Google Doc, it will work best for you to download the pattern and access/print it via your pdf viewer.**


Notes on making your own: 

Print 2 copies (to make 4 units).

Printing Tips: Google docs isn't the best for printing templates, so I'd recommend downloading/saving the template to your computer, then opening it with your usual PDF viewer (Adobe has worked best for me) to print from there. Make sure that scaling is set to 100%, "Actual Size" or "none"' (so your comp doesn't try to "fit" it to a page), and measure the 1 inch scale line once printed to make sure it's EXACTLY one inch, no more, no less! Go the extra mile, and measure the short end of one of the templates, including the gray seam allowances.  It should be 2.5 inches.

I numbered the pieces so that seams will fall in opposite directions, making it easier to join the sections, and I'd also leave the paper on until the very end, but know that paper-piecing is quite personal ;) Join the sections into two A-B units, then join those two to make an 8"x8" finished block!  For the 4x5 Bee, I sashed them with 2.5" strips of white to bring the final size to 12.5".



(If you're not in to paper piecing, I also really love this tutorial for chevrons!)


I've written more about sampler bees I've been in here and here, and to refresh, each member of the group requests certain colors to receive, and then makes blocks in everyone else's colors.  So fun! 


As always, my favorite part is getting to test out all different color combinations! I think this block would also look great with a scrappy collection of fabrics (instead of making each row uniform), or with dark fabric in place of the white for the skinny rows.



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19 comments:

  1. Oh wow! These are super beautiful!!

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  2. awesome blocks. thanks for sharing the links.

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  3. Great blocks! Your colour combinations are wonderful!

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  4. They all look fantastic! I love the colours and chevrons never fail to look good =D

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  5. wow, these are gorgeous! Thanks for the template! Each color and fabric combo you chose is perfect.

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  6. Thanks for creating the template! I was just beginning my own when I stumbled upon your blog! Thank you! And your chevrons are beautiful!

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  7. Anna, I just found your blog. Wow, I'm so impressed with your work. I can't wait to try some of your tutorials. Thanks for sharing with us in blogland and for your inspiration!

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  8. Fabulous blocks - but I really think that they are so good because of your colour combinations - you are very good at putting fabrics together that I probably wouldn't have considered. Lovely.

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  9. Gorgeous! I just found your blog today and now want to make all your patterns! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  10. This is a beautiful and crisp block, I love it.

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  11. I DL and printed your template with Adobe at actual size and the 1" line is a little less than 1" and the bottom of the template is only 2.25" rather than 2.5". Thanks for the template though, I'm sure I can adjust it somehow.

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    1. Make sure you're printing at 100%, or that "no scale" is selected in your print dialogue. Can you be more specific about where you downloaded it from (Craftsy or Google Docs), so that I can help you troubleshoot?

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  12. Can you be more specific about the problem? Are you accessing it via Craftsy or Google Docs? Are you downloading and opening it with your pdf viewer, and printing from there, or are you trying to print from your web browser?

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  13. Do you think I could make a whole quilt of the sharp chevrons without the border on it??

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  14. Where do you get all your fabric? I specifically love the tartan pattern on the first photo!

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    1. Thanks! That plaid is an old print from the DS Quilts collection by Denyse Schmidt (sold by JoAnn's and available on etsy, too) I get fabric from a huge variety of places. I love to browse at hawthornethreads.com, and make a ton of purchases from fabricshack.com (because they'll sell as little as 1/8 of a yard, which I love for scrappy projects!)

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  15. I can'tseem to get the templates for the chevron..Help! love the pattern..
    Thank you

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    1. Hard to get back to you without an email address and knowing the exact steps you're taking that aren't working :) Send me an email and I can try to help!

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