To the Point

Prairie Points are one of my favourite embellishments. I think they really suit my design style. I remember the first time I saw them and how it was love at first sight. Today I thought I'd share some of the ways I've used them. 

The Bluebird of Happiness quilt uses one-colour Prairie Points, repeating the light blue of the centre and third border. It ties the quilt together well and the width of the Points has the effect of another border which a narrow binding would not have given:

 The Fan, Heart & Charm quilt  has a variety of colours in the Prairie Points, highlighting the fabric range that was used for the quilt. You will notice that I didn't use any of the lighter coloured squares for the Prairie Points so that there was a good contrast between the light border and the edge: 

Prairie Points work well on circles and small projects. The Points on the Country Cottage Calendar echo the colours used for the appliques and removable days and numbers:

The Showers & Flowers Cushion works on a different principle. I have introduced an entirely different fabric for the Prairie Points here, something I would not normally do. The pink and white check fabric gives contrast to the rest of the design, but it's not entirely foreign, is it? By picking up on the pink in the floral fabric, there is a smooth transition from the centre to the outer edge:

Swan Lake uses a technique I've tried a couple of times with great visual success - two layers of Prairie Points. Remove those black Points and the design is pleasant but a bit ordinary. The black provides great contrast and takes the design to another level. Of course I could use the colour black without fear because there was already black in the swan outline and the peeper border:

A word about Prairie Point construction. When I first learnt about them, the instructions were to cut a square, fold it diagonally, and fold it diagonally again: 

I soon discovered that while this was great for ease of preparation and for nesting the next Point inside, it did have some failings! I don't know how many times I had to unpick because when I turned the Points out after stitching, I would find that the back of the Points showed out further than the front instead of vice versa.  See that point top right:

 When I discovered there was another method for making Prairie Points, I grabbed it with both hands and went with it. Fold the square in half wrong sides together, then fold the sides into the middle to form right angles:

This is definitely my "go to" method now. Instead of nesting the Points inside each other, I simply overlap them and with this method there is NEVER any problem with the protruding back.

One last word about the Points; they don't have to be used just on edges. I love the effect when they are used in a section of the design. That's something I want to explore more often, but for now you can see them on my apron:

I hope that has been helpful in your choice and use of these great embellishments. (I have a number of other free tutorials and blog talks which you can find here).

I've now had a full week of using my new storage system and it is working brilliantly. I thought I would have to do quite a bit of fine tuning, but it seems that won't be necessary. It is great having easier access to everything. Maybe that's why I had a productive week - two projects completed and another one started plus the concepts for another two all sorted.

Happy stitching!

Val