PLAYING WITH KITES

This afternoon's fun was "playing with kites."  Not real kites,  fabric kites.  Since I figured out how to make 3D pinwheels, I've been "tickled" with the idea of trying to figure out some 3D kites.  And this afternoon I started fooling around with some ideas.  First I tried something very similar to the 3D pinwheels.  Here's my first effort:

Not too bad.  I had worked on this idea some weeks ago, but cut the block differently and couldn't figure out how to make the kite work.  This afternoon I cut this block square (I forget how big), then sliced it into four pieces at an angle.  The top half of the kite is 2x2" squares folded diagonally in half and sewed into the seam.  The bottom half is 2x3" squares, similarly folded.

I tried again, using the same method, and found it's pretty hard to get the points to meet exactly:       

                        

 Here's what the back looks like:

Time to try something different.  I cut a 10" square, planning to cut it up on the straight vertical and horizontal, and then trim it on an angle.  But when I cut it I followed, accidentally, the same angel cuts that I had been doing.  The top and bottom half of the kites were the same size I had been cutting.  This block would need trimming to make it look right.

I didn't have enough of this background to cut another 10" square, so this one started as a 8 1/2" square.  This one I cut into four pieces on the vertical and horizontal, not on an angle.  I sewed in the kite quarters and then trimmed the block on an angle.  It turned out at 7 1/2" square.

And now for another method altogether: I cut out the kite in one piece, folded the corners to the inside and sewed it to a whole block on an angle.  This is a much simpler, surer method!  But the folded-over corners did not reach the middle back on the bottom half, leaving a noticeable different colour showing through the kite fabric.  You can't see it on this picture, but it is noticeable.

So one more try:  This time I drew out the kite shape on paper, transferred it to a piece of manila folder.  The first try didn't work out, so I refined the shape and tried again.  Success this time!

The whole kite is double, so no background shows through.  I had also changed the shape, slightly, making it longer.  I think this might be the method I use if I put some of these "kites" on a quilt.

The surprise is the shape of fabric that needs to be cut in order to end up with the kite:    

                        

When the square corners are folded into the center, you end up with the kite shape.  What fun!

On Friday I took a pillow with one big pinwheel on one side and four small pinwheels on the other side in to The Fabric Nook.  The little ones are just too cute.  But I had neglected to take a picture before I took it in.  I'll post a picture next week.  Also will post a picture of the denim/pinwheel bag that I brought there a few days earlier.