Something Simple

What if I start with these two simple units?

I can make these three blocks.





What if I play with these blocks? Try them in different combinations. Color them different ways.

I can make a lot of different quilts. Including These:

5 Patch Block #2

I designed this 10"x10" block on a 5x5 grid; it is a 5 patch block.

Part of the fun part of designing your own block is you get to color it any way you please.


The other part is seeing what happens when you do:

Echo Block # 5

Friendship Star

Friendship Star is a very simple block. Adding a second smaller star to it makes it more interesting. Quilts made with the new block have more variety and life as a result.

Drunkard's Path

Drunkard's Path Plus

I got to wondering - What if a Drunkard's Path block had two quarter circles instead of one?




Here's what happens.

Quilting

Shoo Fly Place Mat

Version 4

Once again I'm playing with the idea that quilting can change how a quilt looks.
This place mat is made using 6 Shoo Fly blocks.

Summer Sun & Waves

The Ladies in
Foam Lake
Saskatchewan
Made This Quilt

"Some lucky person will win this great quilt. We have had many great comments about this quilt and have sold a lot of tickets as a fund raiser for the new Foam Lake Water Park. We had fun doing this and many have commented on the different design."
Elaine

The quilt is from my pattern Winter Sun and Snow. However, the ladies decided to rename it Summer Sun and Waves.

A version of this quilt first appeared in my Sunday 10 April post.

Echo Block #4

Clay's Choice

5 Patch Block #1

I designed this 10"x10" block on a 5x5 grid.

The sewing is simple - Straight lines and connector corners (stitch and flip).

Quilting

Shoo Fly Place Mat

Version 3

 

 

 

 

I'm playing with the idea that quilting can change the way a block looks.

I'm testing the idea out on a place mat made of 6 simple Shoo Fly Blocks.  

In this case I'm using a kind of star to focus attention on the center of the blocks. 





Here's how I envision quilting this design:

Echo Block #3

Jacob's Ladder

This quilt design starts with  Jacob's Ladder blocks of two different sizes.

The two are combined to make what I call an Echo block.



There are 16 ways the two can be combined.

Quilting

Shoo Fly Place Mat

Version 2

This quilting is very different from that for Version 1.












The quilting is continuous. Here's how I suggest doing it:

Echo Block #2

Shoo Fly

The design starts with a large and a small version of a Shoo Fly block.

Echo Block #1

Ohio Star

I'm going to play with a kind of block I call an Echo block. I make an Echo block by combining a traditional block with a smaller version of it to make a new block.

Quilting

Shoo Fly Place Mat

Version 1

A place mat made with six Shoo Fly blocks is a little more interesting than one made with six Nine Patch blocks.



So I decided for a change to try designing quilting for a Shoo Fly block place mat.




This is what I came up with.

Quilting

Nine Patch Place Mats

Review

 

Over the last week or so I designed quilting for seven place mats made from Nine Patch blocks. I thought it would be interesting to put all seven together to compare them.

Quilting

Nine Patch Place Mat

Version 7

A place mat made using six 6"x 6" Nine Patch blocks is easy enough to make but not all that exciting.








I've  been experimenting with quilting designs to see what can be done to spice it up a bit.



At first it was a chore but I'm starting to enjoy it.

Quilting

Nine Patch Place Mat

Version 6

I decided to try a geometric design on this place mat. No leaves or flowers; just geometric patterns.

These are the three elements that make up the design. The first one starts in one corner and after traveling back and forth ends in the opposite corner. The other two more or less end where they start.

Quilting

Nine Patch Place Mat

Version 5

This place mat is the result of sewing 6 Nine Patch blocks together.










Add a little quilting and it looks totally different.





This design uses only two elements.

Quilting

Nine Patch Place Mat

Version 4

I've been playing with quilting for a place mat made from six 6"x 6" Nine Patch blocks.

As Sophie pointed out in her comment the other day, place mats are great for practicing free-motion quilting and experimenting with quilting designs.

There are two place mats on the left because I decided to play with color as well to see how that affects a quilting design.

I used two elements to make today's design.

Quilting

Nine Patch Place Mat

Version 3

Yesterday's place mat used a simple loop for the quilting.








Today's place mat uses a simple loop once again.

However, the loop is used two different ways. Sometimes it follows the side of a square. Sometimes it follows the diagonal.




The quilting proceeds in the following manner:

Quilting

Nine Patch Place Mat 

Version 2

Yesterday I designed this quilting for a place mat made using six Nine Patch blocks.







Today I designed this quilting.

In both versions the quilting is meant to be done using thread that contrasts with the background.

Yesterday the design used a flattened semicircle that was repeated over and over. Today I simply replaced the semicircle with a simple loop.

The quilting proceeds as follows:

Quilting

Nine Patch Place Mat

Version 1

Six 6"x 6" Nine Patch blocks make a 12"x 18" place mat.

This definitely needs some quilting to make it interesting.



Way back when I  came up with this design using semicircles.

Getting the semicircles to meet nicely at the centers of the white squares might be difficult.



If I flatten the semicircle, then I don't have to worry about the centers. And the design still works

So can I quilt this design?

Yes I can. And here's how:

Pumphouse Pinwheels

As you've seen in the last few posts, I used my Pumphouse alphabet to make pinwheels for a quilt.

There are 4 ways to make a pinwheel from a letter. This is demonstrated on the left using Z.

I decided to explore some of the possibilities.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet

Part 5

I've been showing you my Pumphouse alphabet. The final six letters are today.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet

Part 4

The border fabric includes all the primary colors. If you've ever mixed paints, you know that when you mix all the primary colors together you get mud. To keep the border lively I've alternated strips of the border fabric with strips of white.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet

Part 3

I mentioned earlier that the letters of my Pumphouse alphabet remind me of actors or comic book super heroes because of their flamboyance. In other words, they are very child-like. For that reason I picked
primary colors for this quilt.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet

Part 2

The letters in my Pumphouse quilt read left to right, then right to left, then left to right, etc. I did this so I wouldn't have to think about  the color sequence.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet 

Part 1

Pumphouse is a serif alphabet with large exaggerated triangular serifs.

The result of this exaggeration is an alphabet that is flamboyant, dramatic and theatrical. So I decided to name it after the Pumphouse Theatre in Calgary.

Connaught

Look What Leanne Did

This is from the back of a quilt Leanne made for her husband Bill.
She used my Connaught alphabet.
I think she did a great job of piecing it.

The quilt also has a front.

The fabrics are Star Trek fabrics.

Weyburn Revisited

Look What Bonnie Did

She made this quilt for her brother Jerry using my Weyburn block.
She made the name Jerry to go on the back using my Connaught alphabet.
I think she did an excellent job of both.

I designed the block for the quilters in Weyburn Saskatchewan when I did a trunk show there.

It's made from three pieced strips.

 You might want to try making a Weyburn quilt of your own.

Color Play

Snail's Trail

Part 4

In my last three posts I've been exploring fabric color choices to see how they affect a Snail's Trail block.

Today is no different.

Color Play

Snail's Trail

Part 3

Today's post is a continuation of my last two posts. I want to see what different fabric color choices do to a Snail's Trail block.

Color Play

Snail's Trail 

Part 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a continuation of my last post. I'm coloring a Snail's Trail block various ways to see what happens.

Color Play

Snail's Trail

This is the Snail's Trail block the way it is usually seen. It's a very different block and an interesting one. But there is only so much you can do with it.



Unless....