Making scrappy patchwork with half-square triangles

What do you do with the cut-off triangles from piecing binding strips on the bias… or the triangle cut-offs when you do the flippy corner patchwork technique? Do you save them? 

I save these triangular scraps and use them as “leaders” and “enders” when I chain piece. They turn into little HSTs (half-square triangles). So trust me, I have a huge HST assortment!

Half-square triangle patchwork.

Lately, I’ve been enjoying “therapy patchwork” assembling HSTs into patchwork blocks. No plan. I just trim the HSTs with the Bloc Loc HST ruler, then sort them by color and size, lay them out, and make patchwork.

Half square triangle block with the Bloc Loc ruler.

At first, I was just making HST patches.

A 4x4 patchwork unit made with 1-1/4” half square triangles.

Then I started making them into larger blocks. In this one, the HST patchwork is framed with sashing strips.

HST 9-patch with borders.

Sometimes a fussy-cut motif is surrounded/framed with a border of HSTs.

Fussy cut center surrounded with HSTs.

Pinwheels are fun HST units, as well as a strip of HSTs sewn in a row.

Pinwheels and HSTs in a row.

Other patchwork units include the broken dishes unit, or the square in a square unit.

Four patch Broken Dishes units.

Making blocks with HSTs leads to more HSTs

I’ve got many more HSTs to use… units to make… blocks to assemble. By playing around with these little units, other quilt blocks have come to mind… shoo fly, bear paw, maple leaf… I’m sure there are more.

A stash of HST units awaiting patchwork.

It’s ironic, however, that in using up my stash of HSTs to make patchwork blocks, I’m also creating more HSTs with leaders and enders… which is where all this began.

An unending supply of HSTs.

Kind of like the loaves and the fishes…

Half-square triangles waiting for patchwork assembly.

A new Siena Shirt with Perfect Points

This is my new Perfect Points Siena Shirt! The pairing is fabric from the Perfect Points collection from Windham Fabrics with one of my go-to patterns from the Sewing Workshop, the Siena Shirt.

The Siena Shirt [Sewing Workshop pattern] with Perfect Points [Windham Fabrics].

You gotta love the classic Pickle Dish and Ohio Star patchwork blocks that have perfect points—without having to piece them yourself or deal with all the seam allowances. Easy peasy, right? And who doesn’t love a graphic black-and-white geometric print?!

The Siena Shirt with Perfect Points.

High density cotton fabric

The Perfect Points I and Perfect Points II collections [from Windham Fabrics] are printed on high density cotton. The thread count is 150 threads per sq. in. (75 x 75) making the fabric soft, smooth and so lovely to wear next to the skin. I used Scanfil organic, long staple, cotton thread in 50 wt. for sewing with a Universal 80/12 machine sewing needle. A Scanfil 30 wt. cotton was used for the button holes

Auditioning buttons for the Siena Shirt.

 

Construction challenges

What was I thinking?? I had two different fabric prints, both with strong designs. The Siena Shirt has several pattern pieces—left and right fronts, a button band, front and back side panels, and sleeves—that required pattern matching at the seams if the shirt was going to have a cohesive look. 

Anticipating the pattern matching at the sleeve and side panel seam.

The critical areas for the pattern matching:

• the bodice fronts with the bodice side panels,
• the bodice back with the back side panels,
• at the sleeves where the cap meets the shoulder seam, and
• where the sleeves meet the bodice side panels,
• the button band with the bodice front.

Pattern matching at the sleeves and the bodice.

The pickle dish design at the yoke and collar had to be centered and square. The Ohio Star print was also centered at the back (for the box pleat). All of these critical areas required accurate placement of the paper pattern on the fabric and careful pinning, cutting, and sewing.

Back view: centering the fabric designs on the collar, back yoke, and shirt back.

I actually cut out three different sleeves—trying to best position the design to make a cohesive look. This was definitely a “learn as you go” construction process.

Three sleeves cut at different places.

A more perfect pattern for Perfect Points

Although I absolutely adore the Siena Shirt pattern (I’ve made it over 6 times now), were I to use fabric from the Perfect Points collections for another garment, I would use a pattern with fewer pattern pieces. A front and back… and possibly a sleeve pattern piece… is all that’s needed to showcase the fun Perfect Points patchwork designs but make the garment much easier to construct. 

Better pattern choices for tops from my pattern stash would be the Wiksten Top and the Nine Lives top. Both have minimal pattern pieces and I’ve made both of these in the past. Or if you have a coat/jacket pattern with minimal pattern pieces, these prints would make a great “quilt coat.” 

Patterns with minimal number of pattern pieces:
Wiksten Top and Nine Lives top 

And there’s always quilts, bags, home dec items (pillows, runners, toppers, etc.) that would be so easy by just fussy cutting pieces or quilt blocks from these fabrics. And the points would all be perfect!

A Make Nine 2025 finish

This Perfect Points shirt fulfills my “Make it Again” prompt for Make Nine 2025. With the first six months of the year behind us, I have 6 of 9 Make Nine projects completed. I consider this fabulous progress!

Make it Again prompt, Make Nine 2025.

Make Nine 2025 tracker, June 29.

As we wrap up the month of June, here is my wish for you, “May your bobbin always be full and your points always match!”

My Perfect Points Siena Shirt.

A coptic bound journal for Junk Journal July 2025

Gather up your colorful paper scraps, bookmaking rejects, surface design samples, workshop uglies, old calendars, and trash can rescues. Hit the recycle bin and get prepped for Junk Journal July!

A collection of printed, decorative, and recycled papers for a junk journal.

Inspired by an annual artists retreat, a group of my “art camp buddies” and I are jumping into Junk Journal July 2025 in effort to continue with our art practices—which was a topic of discussion at several meals.

Junk Journal July is an easy and forgiving, low-stress Challenge, with minimal expectations—except to work at our art practice for the entire month of July. We’ll be supporting and cheering each other on next month for 31 days! 

Using the coptic binding method 

I’ve participated in the Junk Journal Challenge four times. For my last two journals—Junk Journal July 2024 and Junk Journal January 2025—I’ve made accordion style no-sew journals. After a recent demonstration on the coptic binding, however, I decided to get more practice with this book binding method and use it for this year’s Junk Journal July.

Coptic bound junk journal.

The coptic bound book has specific characteristics that are very conducive to junk journaling:

• the book opens flat, making it easy to work in.
• the spine of the book is exposed and can accommodate any number of signatures.
• coptic binding can accommodate a soft cover, so you are able to use recycled materials for the cover in addition to the inside pages.

Making my junk journal

My junk journal is 8” square. (I like the square format for Instagram posts.) It has 5 signatures, plus front and back covers—86 full pages and a few short or partial pages. I like to use recycled papers to construct my junk journals, but any journal is absolutely OK to use! The important part is that you work in it!

Junk journal front and back covers.

Because various weights and types of paper were used for the pages in my journal—text papers, magazine pages, mixed media paper, mailing envelopes, cover weight papers, packaging from from a bag of sugar, and a sheet of watercolor paper—in order to (somewhat) maintain the same thickness, the signatures for my journal contained between 4 - 6 folios each.

Journal covers and various papers for the inside pages.

When making a junk journal, remember that’s what it is—a JUNK journal. It’s made of recycled materials and not meant to be perfect. And it will definitely get thicker, bulkier, and more interesting (and fun) when the various items get pasted into it. 

My thoughts for creating a “perfectly imperfect” junk journal are:

• Use what you have! I recycle saddle stitched catalogs and sales booklets for my journals. Get out the staple remover and then trim the pages to your desired folio size. The fold is already set and you’ll know the paper’s grain is correct—parallel to the spine of the book.

Removing staples from a saddle stitched catalog.

• Short pages are welcome. When making folios, if the sheet of paper is not the needed size (16” long is the folio size for my journal), it was folded to accommodate one (8”) page and the other page was short.
• if you don’t want a short page, paste something onto it to make it longer.

Example of a short page in the journal.

• use paint and/or collage to cover up distracting or unwanted text and images on the pages.
• if a page seems too “wimpy” to work on, glue two lightweight pages together to make them stronger/thicker.
• I include at least one folio of a watercolor paper (for painting) and a few uncoated, blank pages for ink drawings, sketches, and hand lettering.
• I like to add envelopes or pockets into the journal to store ephemera and extra paper bits.

A recycled envelope serves as a pocket for small paper bits.

• I paste the daily prompt list at the front of the journal for reference. The printable, provided by Creativity and Coffee, is in a Google drive here.

Daily prompts for Junk Journal July 2025.

Here is my junk journal for Junk Journal July 2025.

Junk journal for Junk Journal July 2025. Size is 8” x 8” x .75”.

Pre-work and collage fodder gathering

Before July 1, when Junk Journal July begins, here are a few activities that get me prepared for a month of journal art making.

• research quotes or poems related to the prompts. This can provide a direction in which to respond to a prompt and a source for hand lettering. 
• pull out the acrylic paints and paint backgrounds on pages. An interesting/colorful page is more approachable than the intimidating blank white page.  
• gather paper scraps and ephemera to tuck into envelopes for collage fodder.
• fussy-cut images from calendars, junk mail, catalogs, etc. for collage fodder.
• replenish my supply of glue sticks.

But first, I need to clean up the work table from making my journal…

The work table needs tidying up!

 

Group collaboration: a Story in Collage and Stitch

In a recent textile workshop, Bringing out the Best: Visually Telling our Stories in Collage and Stitch, with artist and instructor, Merrill Comeau, I had the opportunity to collaborate with three other artists to create a textile collage. 

Collaborative textile collage project in progress.

My fellow collaborators were Michelle, Susan, and Rae, and our group’s theme was “Spring.”  The “visual thinking strategy” exercises in which all workshop attendees participated, generated lists of words, phrases, emotions, memories, shapes, and colors—both symbolically and literally—that were reflective of each of the four seasons. 

Work in progress: a mandala representing Spring.
36” x 36”

This group collaboration project came home with me. The piece is approximately 36” x 36”. I have backed it with a tear-away stabilizer and am in the process of auditioning threads in preparation for free-motion machine appliqué. 

Auditioning threads for free-motion appliqué.

The seasons in collage

Other workshop groups created collages representing the Summer, Fall, and Winter seasons.

Textile collage: Summer

Textile collage: Fall

Textile collage: Winter

For now, I’m undecided about whether our piece should be quilted or not. I’m sure, however, the piece will speak to me at some point to tell me what it needs/wants.