Demented Deconstructed

I have not had a chance to return to the sewing machine yet, so I thought I would look back and see what I was working on. And yikes! It was last February that I began the Demented Garden Mosaic (a pattern published online by Free Spirit.) And that is also where I found an old tutorial that I made for making this quilt. Because I think it is important to realize that this is not made up of half-square triangles. This is made from strips and the smallest piece I have to handle is 2X4.5 inches.

It starts with light and dark strips that are 2 inches wide, and light and dark strips that are 3 inches wide. Sew the light and dark strips together...a light 2 inch wide strip to a dark 3 inch strip; a dark 2 inch wide strip to a light 3 inch strip.

Next, cut each of the strip sets into 2 inch increments so you have stacks of 2 by 4.5 inch rectangle two-patches.

Take similar rectangles (that is, small dark squares) and sew them so the small squares are at either end. The example on the left shows two rectangles with dark squares sewn together.  The example on the right shows to do the same for the rectangles with light squares.

These are the two types of blocks that you end up with.

Next, slice these blocks into triangles lining up the ruler so that makes a right triangle with a quarter inch seam off of the square. You will do this to both squares so that you get two triangles from each block. You may also have a sliver of excess.

Then recombine the triangles along the diagonal using one triangle with a dark square and one triangle with a light square. If you have ironed to the dark you will benefit from nesting seams.

These are the units that make up most of the Demented Garden Mosaic except for the strips of flying geese that march between the sections.

Meanwhile, I found out that mixes of Tabbies and Siamese can lead to a "Lynx-point Siamese" like Buddy. And supposedly one of their key characteristics is that they tend to be more dog-like than cat-like. Unfortunately, I found no discussion of a tendency to grow to the size of a pony or a tiny house.