How Hard Is It
To Design A New Block?
Part 3 (4 x 4 Grids)
Designing new quilt blocks is fairly easy when you design on a grid.
The first 2 posts in this series looked at blocks designed on a ninepatch grid. That is, a grid that is 3 units wide and 3 units high.
Obviously a 3 x 3 grid is not the only one you can use.
This post looks at blocks designed on a 4 x 4 grid.
There is a difference between the two grids and it affects the resulting designs. The center of a 3 x 3 grid is a single square unit. The center of a 4 x 4 grid is the point where four square units touch.
SOME TRADITIONAL 4 x 4 GRID BLOCKS
Bridal Path is designed using 2 simple units.
One of the units is a Nine Patch block. This raises an interesting question - if a block can be used as a unit in another block, what's the difference between a block and a unit?
Storm at Sea is designed using 3 different units.
When you make a Storm at Sea quilt you don't repeat the block; you repeat the center of the block and treat the edge units like sashing. So what exactly is a block?
Starburst is made using 2 different units. One of which is colored 2 ways.
This block can be neatly divided into 4 squares, each of which could be considered to be a block. So is it one block or four?
Cleopatra's Puzzle is made using a Drunkard's Path block.
Or is it a Drunkard's Path unit?
Crown of Thorns is made using 3 different units. One of which is a plain square.
Is a plain square ever considered a block?
In the 3 posts in this series, by examining traditional blocks, we've managed to create a small library of quilt block units.
CREATING NEW BLOCKS
Let's see what can be done with some of these on a 4 x 4 grid.
What if we select 3 of the units and play with them to see what turns up?
This outline pattern is interesting. What happens when it is colored?
This is a surprise. I didn't expect this result, but I like it. It gets really interesting when you repeat the block.
What if we try doing something with just 2 different units?
I find the ouline pattern confusing. Maybe coloring it will help.
Coloring made a big difference.
This is just one of the many ways this block can be colored.
Whether you are working on a 3 x 3 grid or a 4 x 4 grid the design process for creating a block is the same. You simply play with different arrangements of units on the grid until you find something that pleases you. Then you color it.
Aunt Flo’s Christmas 15, 17
13 hours ago
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