Sawtooth Pack

[Giuseppina Worster]

Frommy remedial understanding of gardening, sawtooth is apparently a lot easier to cultivate than cilantro. And what makes it particularly interesting is its long shelf-life. The herb keeps for a while, maintains its flavor and can even be frozen or stored in oil without losing its oomph.

I have used the LM317 and LM337 regulators many times in this configuration. In this case the LM337 output is set to 9V. Superimposed is a sawtooth with 180mV amplitude. The frequency and amplitude are affected by the amount of capacitance connected to the output. The sawtooth remains even after disconnecting everything. Even the output capacitors were removed one at a time. The adjust pin was grounded to eliminate the adjust to ground capacitors and resistor. The sawtooth is still present even though the output is at 1.25V. Schematics, output waveform and board layout attached. The regulator does not get warm. It has been replaced twice with parts from different date codes and manufacturers (TI and National).

The datasheet typical application below uses 1uF and 10uF capacitors but they are polarized. Tantalum is recommended aluminum is also ok.. Ceramics have much lower equivalent series resistance (ESR) than tantalum capacitors. Aluminum are even higher. A quick look at Digikey shows 10uF 15V to 63V tantalum capacitors ranging from 80 mOhms to 8 ohms. I wonder if 80 milliohms are enough to make the difference. There are other values as low as 1.6 mOhms.

Yes, adding 100uF is a workable solution. 100uF tantalums have been super glued upside down next to the 10uF ceramics. It does occur to me that I need to find the threshold for the tantalum capacitor size to make sure 100uF isn't just barely enough. I will try 10uF tantalum with the ceramics. If that works 10x is plenty of margin.

Digikey lists the TI parts as LM337IMP/NOPB. The older parts said National on the packaging. The Newer parts said TI. Both said LM337IMP The NOPB is of no interest as we use leaded solder anyway and redip many parts, though not these.

Adding a 10uF tantalum in parallel with the 10uF, 1uF and 0.1uF ceramics was enough to stop the oscillation. A 1uF tantalum was not. A 100uF has been permanently added. That is at least 10x more than is required. Probably overkill for a medium or high volume application but cheap for a low volume solution compared to the time spent.

You may remember the little star mini-quilt I shared last week. I had multiple people ask for instructions for making these stars. It's been something I've wanted to write a tutorial about for years and I figured now was the time.

This classic 8-pointed star is probably one of the most traditional quilt motifs there is. I think the reason it has so much staying power is that it always looks sharp. Plus, depending on the variety of fabric and color choices, it can be so versatile!

This quilt using these sawtooth star quilt blocks is one of the first quilts I ever made. I made it 16 years ago - I even hand quilted it! - and it has hung above my bedroom dresser ever since. I still love it (which I can't say about every quilt I made that long ago.)

As you can see in this sawtooth star quilt block version, I made the stars "solid" using the same fabric for all of the pieces of the star. If you look at the mini version at the top of the post, you can see where I used different fabric for the star centers. So obviously this block gives you a lot of variations.

This sawtooth star quilt block can be constructed using half-square triangles for the points. But I personally prefer to use Flying Geese units for the points as it eliminates an unnecessary seam (between the points), reducing extra bulk and leaving larger pieces of fabric design intact.

Here's the basics of the Flying Geese units: you will need one large square that will always be your "goose" (middle triangle) and four smaller squares that will always be your "sky". Or, when making these blocks to use as star points, the "sky" triangles become the points of the star. Are you with me still?

Let's walk through the steps to get from the 1 large + 4 smaller squares to the four finished Flying Geese blocks. Don't worry about the measurements at this point. I have two free printable charts for you to use to make these blocks (both Flying Geese and Sawtooth Stars) in 9-10 different sizes below.

The first step is to cut out all of the coordinating pieces for your block. I like to do all the cutting at once for multiple blocks. Then I can play with the variety of colors and combinations while all the fabric is out. I put each set in a pile and take them all to my machine at once. Just keep track of which pieces are what.

Thank you for your tutorial Amy, and for the downloadable charts. These are great! Thank you for the giveaway chance. Love this 'Sweet Orchard' Fabric and the lovely little quilt you made with it. Your 'old' quilt is a treasure - love the colors you chose!

I've tried this method before and it's amazing how easy it is but when you're not used to making them this way it's a little confusing at first. Thank you for the tutorial. I love the colors you used.

I want to try your method of making the flying geese blocks oversized since I seem to have trouble getting the correct size when patterns give instructions for the "correct" size before trimming. Thanks for the printable chart!

Thank you for the tutorial. I tried these once using this method and failed horribly. I know it was because the instructions did not leave room for squaring up the fabric, and I was too tired to figure out the maths. I am printing out the instructions right now and pinning them to my wall by my cut table. This way I am prepared when I do these again! :o)

The chart is worth gold! How did you ever figure it out? I stand in awe. Sweet Orchard must be in the all time standings for the sweetest lines in quilting fabrics ever. I know you hate that your children are growing up so quickly. I also hated that mine did. There are years ahead with tears from the mother, but as you see your children become independent, you will be glad they can be so confident. Then you get the reward of grandchildren. Seeing my children become such excellent parents was such a thrill. I'm glad you are enjoying all these great family times. No fabric is worth family time!

I dont think Ive seen Flying Geese done like this. I hope to try it sometime. I really think your blog is one of the most informative blog around. But then, maybe its because you use such pretty fabric!!

Thank you for the charts, Amy and the tutorial using the "no waste" method. I love stars in a quilt and will try this technique. The fabric bundle looks so tempting. Thanks for a chance in the giveaway.

Well now you have me dropping everything, I have company coming and my house is a wreck, to try these flying geese! I'm going to do pink and turquoise because ?! I guess that means cleaning in the middle of the night! Thanks though!

We do our stars the same way. I like to use flying geese too. I make my geese the same way too as I dislike waste, making them just a smidge larger so as I like to be able to square them up afterwards just perfect. I find that taking the time to square up my pieces AND my blocks makes for a much much prettier quilt. I have learned to relax and enjoy the entire process. Its not a race after all. ?

Amy, if you have never tried the Bloc_loc ruler for squaring up flying geese, can I strongly recommend you have a look at their website ( )? I adore their rulers which take a LOT of the pain out of squaring up. They have great rulers for trimming HSTs too. Changed my life! I don't get paid to say this and I don't generally buy specialist rulers. Cute quilt and thanks for the tutorial.

I just used that method for a quilt, and I found that just about every flying goose had an extra flap of fabric in the point--two extra layers of fabric. It was a pain removing them. I plan to go back and test whether I just oversized my squares too much or what. I don't know why they call flying geese a beginner block; I think they're quite hard unless you're paper piecing.

Great tutorial! I am doing a quilt right now with flying geese and half square triangles. My daughter is getting married in October and I had to push that aside to make Bridal Shower gifts for September. Thank you for sharing this great tutorial and for the chance to win these gorgeous fabrics! Have a fantastic creative day!

I love this method for making flying geese and thank you for the mini star tutorial. I've had my eye on the Sweet Orchard fabric for a while so I'd love to win this bundle and make a patchwork quilt. I especially like the little word blocks like the "cherry" one. Thank you for hosting this giveaway! [email protected]

Thank you Amy for the great tutorial. I love the look of stars quilts and your size chart will be handy to have around. Your mini quilt is very cute with the fabrics used. It would be a great win! Thank you for the chance to win.

I just started making flying geese this way recently and it's now my favorite method. I love that you made the pieces in your tutorial a little bigger for squaring up - mine always seem to come out a smidge small when I cut them exact size. Thanks for the info!!

Every one of the projects on this blog tour are just the cutest things ever. I LOVE this fabric. Great tutorial, and I appreciate the chart for the different sizes of flying geese. That is so helpful. Thank you.

I have always wanted to make the sawtooth star block but couldn't find a good tutorial. I have been quilting for several years and have been intimidated by the flying geese, but it looks like that was unnecessary stress. These look totally doable.

Love this technique. Stars are the best! Traditional, but with a mix of modern fabrics - they can be timeless! Glad to see that you square as you go...I was always taught that if you have a good foundation to your project, the finally result will be amazing! I always square as I go.

I have never made these stars but now I will give it a try. My first try with flying geese didn't go very well. I really appreciate you taking the time to write this tutorial. I have learned so much from your blog and tutorials and I just want to say: Thank you so much! I always love your choice of fabric also; I have a difficult time deciding upon fabrics for my projects and it's so nice to see the fabrics you choose.

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