How To Make Prairie Points

Prairie Points are these showy little triangles peeping out of the seam on a quilt.  You'll find them most often along the edges of quilts.  Unliked scalloped edges, these are easy to make.  Here's how:

Select your fabric.  A dramatic contrast or stark stripes might give your project some punch.  If you choose something that 'matches' too closely, your prairie points may seem like a lot of work for very little visual impact.  (Here, I've used birch tree trunks, with batiks and a festive print.)  You can buy and yard and go back if you need more. 

Snip and rip off the selvedge piece with the fabric's name on it.  Now rip a straight line...  You do this by finding the fold of the fabric, and snipping about an inch in from the edge.  You will rip it from the middle to the edges in both directions at once.  Now you have a true straight line.

Cut Strips... Using a tape measure or the ruler on a cutting board, snip in about an inch on the fold, every 4 inches.  When you get to the last one, it might not be square if the fabric was not cut precisely, so I always throw the last piece into the 'bone pile' in my sewing room floor.  You will have it there if you need it, and if not you may use it later for potholders or pillowcases.

Make the Strips Square... Lay your strip longwise and make a snip every four inches, then rip each into a 4 inch square.  Tip:  If you are precise, lay 2 or 3 strips atop each other and cut multiples all the way thru instead of ripping. 

Stack and Fold... Stack them up on your ironing board.  Get one.  Fold into a triangle.  Fold into a triangle again.  Iron.  Stack 'em in a finished pile.  Repeat till all are done.  Tip:  If you use a stripe, you *might* prefer to fold them with the fold going the same direction.  If you're making horizontals and you get a vertical, turn it over.  Its magic!

Zigzag them Down... Sew these down onto your sashing or border strip using a zigzag stitch.  You'll hide that when you sew the quilt top seam.

Finish and Admire... Now lay your border strip under the quilt top.  Eleanor Burns, author of Quilt In A Day Series, gives this tip and it makes your project move more smoothly in the machine.  Quilt your regular size of seam.

I love these!  This is my first quilt with Prairie Points and they're so easy plus fancy.  When you quilt your top, you may wish to seam along whichever side you wish in order to lay them up toward the top of the bed, or down toward the edge of the quilt.