What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

A very simple block today from The Patchwork Planner by Birte Hilberg, drafted on a 3×3 grid.

I started by adding the block to a quilt layout and got a very simple overall design.

I couldn’t leave it like that for long.

More interesting, and could be more interesting with more colours added, but I am sticking with black and white, but I will turn the design above inside out.

I like this one, and there is room for colours to be added too.

A different colour could be added to the inside of those squares!

The one ...

Interesting!

Looks like the stars are doing an intricate square dance!

No favourite today, I like them both.

Interesting.

More interesting.

Bright … and very pointy. I love it!

The blocks are all variations of one block, which is a 12P block … drafted on a 12 x 12 grid.

The second design is more subdued though the colours are the same … just less of them.

One block design, with a few, or many, pieces omitted here and there, with the quilting lines showing where the seam lines should be, and where some of them still are despite joining two pieces of the same fabric so there are no inset points anywhere.

These two designs are very similar … can you pick the difference?

I had to double check three times to make sure they were not identical.

I don’t usually like busy, starry designs, especially if they have too much blue, but I do like the one above.

I can remember wandering around a quilt exhibition and stopping in front of a blue quilt. I loved every thing about it, even the blue. All the shapes and all the fabrics were in exactly the right place to make the overall design perfect, and it was a perfect example of contrast being more important than colour to make the design attractive.

Love the second design!

One block design, but using the background fabric to hide some pieces of the full design.

I am not a fan of quilting in the ditch, but it would work for me in this sort of design.

I like the first design, but love the second one!

Just one block can be so versatile!

Love it!

Like the second one too.

Interesting!

I like the second design.

Notice that the quilting lines in the second and third designs show the how the blocks fit together in the first.

Wow!

Sometimes I am surprised at what gems I have hidden in my project files, though I find things I have hidden on the shelves of my sewing room all the time, though have difficulty finding the thing I am looking for.

I am also amazed at what happens when you play with just one block in a design … though in the second design I might have to try reversing the white and pale blue fabrics in this design.

Love it, love it, love it!

A bit too busy, but I do like it, but it is not my favourite for today.

I have just noticed that i have used Mum’s favourite colour, purple, Dad’s favourite green, and Viv rather liked pink when she was little. The combination is one of my favourite combinations.

Jinny Beyer is my favourite quilter, and her use of colour is wonderful.

When a single block is 28″, it is easy to turn it into a baby quilt, wall hanging or table topper.

BIG BLOCK BABY
Finished size: 36-1/2″ x  36-1/2″

MATERIALS

ONE Size Large (based on 2-1/2″ squares) Star Kissed Block.  It will measure 28-1/2″. You can find all directions HERE.

64 2-1/2″ scrappy squares
1/4 yard background fabric (NOTE:  I matched the background to the star block itself, but it is OK to use a scrappy background as long as it is very similar value.  Otherwise, the star won’t shine as bright)
1-1 ...

A one block design, with bits and pieces ignored or recoloured to create different designs.

I like the gentle curves in the centre of the block.

Just one block, recoloured to fill spaces with much more interest than just making the same version over and over.

The centre block in the second design is the block as it appears in full colours.

Also has the quilting design ready to stitch … just follow the seam lines which are not there!

One block design used, in parts, for all the pieced blocks and the quilting motif.

Just a few changes … and I must have used a totally different virtual thread for the quilting motif!

Interesting, and I like the colours. All the blocks are variations of just one block, and the quilting lines are also based on that one block.

More blocks, more interesting.

I wonder how many ways the Vera’s Star block can be coloured?

And if Vera’s Star can be coloured so many different ways, how many ways can your favourite block can be coloured to create a centre feature, straight lines, diagonal lines, corners, small feature blocks?

The easy part is finding the quilting design … just follow the seam lines, though I would quilt a line just outside the seam lines so that the quilting stitches can be seen, not hidden in the ditch, and the coloured pieces stand up above the background fabric.

One block quilts do not ...

One block, one quilting design exactly following the lines of the block, but contrast fabric is not used in some of the pieces so those pieces disappear.

In a real quilt the cutting and piecing can be reduced by not cutting on all the seamlines.

Are you ready for the first challenge of the year?

I am working on it so it will be published over the weekend.

Love this one.