I have a new quilt pattern that I have been working on for quite some time. For months, I have wanted to make a brown and pink quilt and call it Chocolate Covered Cherries. I messed around with designs in EQ8 and wasn’t happy with the results, but there was a retreat coming up last fall and I needed something to do. I decided that at the very least, I would need some half square triangles. So, using the Moda Cake Mix papers set #3, I cut squares of pink fabric, and paired those up with a variety of browns, milk chocoalate to dark chocolate. The browns came from a layer cake along with some yardage that I cut into 10-inch squares. The lighter color tans on the left side of the picture below will be nougat squares.
Pairing up a pink 10-inch square with the chocolate color squares, pin a cake mix sheet to the top.
Sew on the lines.
Now cut apart using a rotary cutter. Begin with cutting the edges off.
<
Cut the straight lines, then the diagonals.
Cut all the lines without moving the pieces. In a flash, there are 18 HSTs, all trimmed to exact size, no squaring needed.
Crease the paper on the sewn line, and tear away the paper.
Continue until they are all done.
Press to the chocolate side.
Continue with another set. It took less than five minutes to sew and cut one sheet, about 10 minutes to remove the paper and press. There are still little ears on the units, and I just left them for expediency. You could snip them off as you go.
I was at the retreat last October for several hours, setting up you can see this side of the retreat area was for quilters like me working on their own projects.
On the other side of the auditorium area were quilters all working on a quilt along using the same pattern.
I spent more than half my time there talking with friends, watching the quilt along and checking on its progress, having lunch, looking at the quilts others were working on, helping with a block arrangement, sharing the chocolate I brought as inspiration and just enjoying the time with friends. And yet, I came home with 252 HSTs!!
I went back to the drawing program knowing I had plenty of HSTs to do whatever design I wanted. I have now finished the design, and made several blocks so I know I like it. Of course, once I got the design done, I wanted it a bit bigger, so I made another 108 HSTs with six cake mix papers. I began assembling more blocks, then decided instead of 30 blocks, I could do 42 so my quilt would be 6×7 blocks. Yes, back to the machine for another group of HSTs. But, it only took an afternoon to get that many more, this method is so fast!
If you want to quilt along, I’ll be showing the pattern in April, and will have a special deal for readers prior to its release for sale. You can get Moda Cake Mix papers set #3 with this affiliate link at Fat Quarter Shop. You’ll need 12 HSTs for each block, to give you an idea of how many you will need, using your favorite method. The blocks are 8 inches finished. Oh, and there is a perfect layer cake on sale this week at Fat Quarter Shop for those who love batiks, all browns – Caramel Bali Crackers Layer Cake. There’s a selection of pinks and browns in Fat Quarter Shop Basic of the Month 20% Off Bedrock by Windham Fabrics
Are you quilting something fun? Wanna quilt along?
Sharing
From My Carolina Home 
I love using the Moda cake mix recipe sheets — you’re right easy and quick! Looking forward to your pattern!
I have thought about those, they look like a great way to get lots of HST quick. Maybe after I clean out these scraps a bit more!
You learn something new every day – I hadn’t seen the Moda cake mix recipe sheets before.
wow I have never seen those papers before-I might actually be able to be accurate with those haha Love the colors
I haven’t either. THANKS for sharing.
Love pinks and browns together. Can’t wait to see what you’re doing with them. On the cake mix sheets, do you copy them? I see you’re making a lot of HST’s, did you copy that particular sheet to cover the number you needed? Just curious. I have one of the cake mixes but cannot remember which one it is now. Hope you’re enjoying the snow, we certainly are!
Very clever! What a great idea for a retreat as well as you can pick up and leave off in between all the fun chatting. Am I doing the math right?….with one pack of recipe cards, can you make 810 half square triangles? That seems rather impressive. I haven’t been tempted by the recipe cards yet but this does sound cost effective.
Yes, one #3 pack has 45 sheets making 18 HSTs each for a total of 810.
P.S. what is not to love about a 2″ square or half triangle 🙂
Hello Carole; Oh, how fun, another Quilt Along with Carole!!! Yippeee…… I bought some yardage of 3 different browns that would be lovely as HST or I also have this fabric that is Thanksgiving related that would be perfect for HST also. So, you bet I am in. I do want to ask the same question as Loris, just in a different way. How many papers come in a package of these Cake Mixes? Plus, can you buy them separately since you have decided to make so many more HST, I am sure they were not in your Cake Mix. One more question Carole, since I will most likely have to make my HST without papers…what is the exact size I should be trimming these babies down to? Looking forward to this Quilt Along just as much as I am the one I behind on now! LOL. Have a great day.
Love moda Cake Mix recipes. Looking forward to the finish!
You are so creative! Your corned beef meal looked good as well ! 🙂
I used to use papers all the time, but now I never do. And I can’t stand the ears when I’m sewing, so they always get nipped. I have a tote of CW double pinks and browns from another quilt I made, so I may try to quilt along, at least a table runner or baby quilt. Might be a good donation for Hands2Help!
Goodness, you make everything look so easy, I´ve never seen the cake mix sheets here and they certainly must save a lot of time. Interesting to see the pattern in such a pretty combination of colours.