Fabric Backgammon Board

This is a project I've wanted to do for a long time - previously my most complicated patchwork had been a very square quilt. This was much more of a challenge - and ended up ever so slightly wonky, but I love it anyway! The colour combination almost reminds me of a carnival - a lot more exciting than the backgammon set I currently own. And as a bonus it is very portable - perfect for summer picnics.

• 3 different colour fabrics
• Paper triangle template
• Interfacing if required
• Matching thread
• Sewing machine, scissors etc

I used three different colours of fabric, two for the triangles and one for the edges. The orange fabric I used was a slightly lighter weight that the rest so I added some interfacing to it - this makes the piecing together a lot easier. I made sure all the fabric was ironed smooth as even a small crease could make the triangles end up quite wonky!

I made a template for the triangles I had to cut out - which was the finished size plus an approx 1cm seam allowance on each side. I cut 12 orange, 12 navy and 20 blue. I also cut 8 'half triangles' which were actually slightly wider than half a triangle - due to the seam allowance - which would go on the edges where the triangles join the border.

I pinned the pieces together, alternating light blue, orange, navy, light blue to create four sections of six. They all ended up slightly different sizes - I probably should have taken more time on this stage! Make sure right sides face together when you sew, and that edge triangles actually go on the edge. It was very important to iron the triangles really flat and smooth, so they would attach neatly to the rest of the board and not look lumpy.

The rest of the board was considerably simpler - I cut two rectangles which were sized to the width of the triangle sections and sewed them together, in the pale blue. I then added a strip down the middle for the bar, in orange. Then more ironing!

I added a rectangular border around the front of the board, and then sewed a backing fabric to this. If I did it again, I would probably do bias binding with the pieces

That's really all there is to it, a fairly simple patchwork (I say fairly simple, it is actually quite fiddly, hence why it looks ever so slightly wonky!). To play backgammon you'll also need some counters, I stole some from a set I already had.