A Do Over

Nine Patch En Point

29 November 2014 I was wondering if I could design an interesting quilt using only Nine Patch blocks.

This is one of the quilts I came up with.

A Do Over

Ottawa

In April of 2015 I designed this block and this quilt top.

I wonder if I can improve it by adding a new border?

A Do Over

Mix & Match # 1

Last year some time I cut a Jacob's Ladder block into 4 quarters and then did the same with an Ohio Star block. I shuffled the pieces and came up with two new blocks. Then I used the blocks to design a quilt top.






The quilt top deserves a better border than the one I gave it. So I thought it was time I did something about that.

A Do Over

Another Seebe?

Once upon a time I designed this unit and colored it two different ways.

I played with the units and came up with these blocks that I used to make my Seebe quilt.

Simple Block # 6

What if I use a square, a split square and a half square triangle to make a block?

This is the block I came up with.


Here are 4 ways I came up with for using this block:

Old Block Plus

Nine Patch

This is obviously a Nine Patch block. I've placed it in the middle of a grid. What if I try filling the empty grid squares around the Nine Patch block in many various ways?

The best way to find out is to try it.

Paired Blocks #32

Sharon


Theresa



Quite some time a go I designed a swirl block I called Sharon and another one I called Theresa.

When Tried pairing theses two sister blocks to create quilt designs, this is what I got:

Old Block Plus

Snail's Trail

I want to make new blocks. But you know me; I'm lazy. I don't want to start from scratch. So I'll start with an old block, Snail's Trail, and add a few extra pieces around the outside. I can do this a lot of different ways.





Here's what I get when I do that and then use the blocks in quilt designs:

Old Block Plus

Shoo Fly

What if I start with a simple block design, in this case Shoo Fly; place it on a grid; and then add new design elements?


I get new blocks that I can use to design my own quilts..

A Do Over

Indian Cabins Block

One thing I've learned is that you can always do something new with an old block. A long, long time ago I designed my Indian Cabins bock as part of my Alberta Series. It's time to see if I can dress it up in new clothes. But first some history.

Back in 2012 I was asked to submit a block to go in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol 6. I submitted this version of my Indian Cabin block. To see it used in a quilt design or two, go here.

The block is built from 4 identical units that look like this.



After that Quiltmaker magazine asked me for a quilt made from my Indian Cabins block to go in Quilt's from Quiltmaker's 100 blocks.

I recolored the block to look like this. To see what the quilt looks like go here. To see other possibilities go here.



Today I thought I'd see if I could find other interesting ways to color the block and also to see what happens when I use the unit the block is made from to make new blocks.

One Block, Two Sizes

King's Crown

What if I start with
12" x 12" and 8" x 8"
King's Crown blocks?







What if I experiment with how an 12" block and an 8" block are placed side by side and with how they are colored?

One Block, Two Sizes

Clay's Choice
I've experimented with a Clay's Choice block many times before. But there is no limit to what can be done a with a block.So I decided to give Clay's Choice another go.

This time I'm using both a 12" block and an 8" block to create my designs.

Four Friends 6

Look what She Did

Sandy made this quilt from my Four Friends pattern.

Look What She Did

Hope made this quilt top using my posts on a wonky Birds in the Air block. It's not finished but she's letting me show it to you anyway.

I've been meaning to sew this design for a long time; I just haven't got around to it. I'm very  pleased to see  that Hope has  sewn it. I look forward to seeing it when it's finished

Three Block Quilts # 4

Drunkard's Path



Snowball Variation



Shoo Fly




What if I start with these 3 very simple blocks? Can I combine them to create interesting quilt designs?

Three Block Quilts # 3

Drunkard's Path



Friendship Star



Shoo Fly




I've chosen these three blocks to experiment with. I want to see if I can find interesting ways to combine them and come up with new quilt designs.

Lettering

Sandstone Valley

In a recent post (Dec 6) I showed you the rough draft of my Hidden Valley alphabet. I thought if I took a second look at it I could work out some of the bugs. Instead I came up with a similar but different alphabet that I decided to call Sandstone Valley.

The Hidden Valley alphabet was based on a three dimensional cube. The Sandstone Valley alphabet is based on a square with a drop shadow.

Making Visual Choices

Similar Orientations Associate

I've used Empire Star blocks for this example because they are asymmetrical. As a result I can place some horizontally and some vertically.

You see the two two kinds of Empire Star blocks as being different because they are different. All the horizontal blocks are one grouping. All the vertical blocks are another grouping. The horizontal blocks associate. The vertical blocks associate.

However, the connection is not very strong. How can I make it stronger?

Lettering

Hidden Valley

Annie's comments on yesterday's post inspired me to design this pieced alphabet. I'm calling it Hidden Valley for the simple reason that I don't think I've named an alphabet Hidden Valley before.

This is a first draft. I designed it in a rush last night so I haven't spent a lot of time playing with it and working out the bugs. That means it is still subject to change without notice.

I thought you might like to see it anyway.

Shadowed Block

Nine Patch

What if I start with a Nine Patch block laid out on a 10 x 10 grid?

What if I add shadows so that the block appears three dimensional?