attached to the sheet 18 by any suitable means such as other adhesives in one embodiment the tape 19 is formed from polyester in another embodiment the tape 19 is formed from polyolefin such as polypropylene or polyethylene the tape 19 however can be formed from any material for reinforcing and strengthening the nail zone of a shingle such as for example paper film scrim material and woven or non woven glass the resulting second asphalt coated sheet 22 may then be passed beneath a series of granule dispensers 24 for the application of granules to the upper surface of the second asphalt coated sheet 22 the granule dispensers can be of any type suitable for depositing granules onto the asphalt coated sheet a granule dispenser that can be used is a granule valve of the type disclosed in u s pat no 6 610 147 to aschenbeck the initial granule blender 26 may deposit partial blend drops of background granules of a first color blend on the tab portion of the second asphalt coated sheet 22 in a pattern that sets or establishes the trailing edge of subsequent blend drops of a second color blend of an accent color and a third color blend of a different accent color for purposes of this patent application the first color blend and the background granules are synonymous the use of initially applied partial blend drops to define the trailing edge of subsequent blend drops is useful where accurate or sharp leading edges are possible but accurate trailing edges at high shingle manufacturing speeds are difficult as is well known in the art blend drops applied to the asphalt coated sheet are often made up of granules of several different colors for.