Triangles: starting over

I don't know what happened yesterday, but the gremlins first deleted most of my blog and next, ate the whole thing.

While I'm waiting for 12:30 so I can check in for tomorrow's flight to Austin, TX, I will just move on. As I recall, I was talking about how I took apart a quilt that was not making me happy. An attempted zig-zag that zigged and zagged in the wrong places.

I unpicked every stitch, separated every block, and ended up with so many of these that I was able to make two new quilts from the pieces. And the result made me twice as happy as I had been with the one above.

This one, Slings & Arrows, was made from cut-up blocks. I added strips of other ethnic fabrics: Indian and Aboriginal, and a little bit from Hoffman's You and Me collection of fabrics. Total improv.

This one, which I titled New Jersey Road Signs, (if you're from there, you'll understand), I fused to a fabric I have had for eons and was finally able to use. All in all, silk purses from a sow's ear.

Now I am experimenting with more triangles: ethnic and modern fabrics, which actually go so well together. There are two of these on the wall as I play around with color and fabric combinations.

I always take pictures in black and white to see the values as I go along. Do you?

Have no idea where this is going, but I'm not going to worry about it and I'm going to keep going. Eventually, they will end up somewhere.

One of the classes I'm teaching is Modern Quilts from Old Blocks. While I was looking through my vast collection of vintage bits and blocks, I found these peculiarly shaped bits (along with the cardboard template). 1930's and '40s fabrics.

Arrowheads for an archeologically-themed quilt??

Nope. I found two of these blocks and a partial made by somebody before she gave up. Do you blame her?

Can't let the arrowheads go to waste but I am not about to take over where this poor woman left off. Can you guess? I'm cutting off the bottoms and will have a pile of vintage triangles to use in another experiment. A modern quilt from old blocks is in my future.

Have you ever taken apart a top or a quilt and repurposed the blocks to make something new and much better than the original? Would love to hear about it. If you haven't but are thinking about it, be sure to take a "before" picture.