January and February 2012 Block of the Month

For Elemental Alchemy, we will be making three sized blocks: 8", 10", and 12". The blocks will get more complex as they get bigger. For January-April, we will be making 8" blocks for each of the four elements.

January began with Air and appropriately enough the block is called Wild Air. Periwinkles and cornflowers and hyacinth colors twirl and swirl in this 8" block.



The depths of February's winter called me to design a block for Earth. How could I resist using a multitude of greens during this colorless time of the year. (There is a subtle beauty to the winter landscape in the Pennsylvania countryside, but by the end of February I am longing for green shoots.)

2011 Block of the Month

Ta da! Here's the culmination of 2011's Impressions of Monet. The top picture shows almost the entire quilt. The bottom picture gives a better sense of the colors.

December Block

And so another Block of the Month year comes to an end for me. Yesterday I unveiled the finished quilt to the Monday groups. It was very exciting to show how all the blocks will come together to create the finished quilt!

The quilt, as I designed it, required 13 blocks, so this month you get to make two blocks--one for December and one "bonus" block. The December block pattern tells you just what fabrics to use and where to use them, but the bonus block allows you to use your leftover strips however you wish!

For December, I forgot to take a photo before the quilt was finished, so here you get a glimpse of the beautiful quilting by Deb Kerr. 

For the bonus block, choose your remaining strips and cut thirty-six 2 1/2" squares. Arrange them as you desire. You can see that I chose a gradated approach for my block.

I will post the finished quilt tomorrow or later today (as soon as I can get a good photo taken). This was a very fun quilt to design and make and I am so glad that I am able to share it with you!

November Block of the Month

November's block is similar to October's, in that they both have a double-chain, but November's block has a more dynamic design. The four quadrants are diagonally split into dark/light halves, which adds a layer of interest and complexity. The piecing is actually simpler than you would think: there are five four-patches to make and then four "house" units.

 Because of the visual interest in the design, it creates a very interesting quilt. Here you can see 25 blocks tiled (five rows of five blocks). The blocks have been rotated to create the secondary designs. Not only do you see the two chains, but diamonds abound in the quilt. It looks far more complex than it actually would be to make!

As always, if you get inspired by this design, please share your quilt with me. I'd love to see it!

September and October Blocks

Here you will find a terribly belated picture of the September block! It's a fun one to piece, using the partial-seams method, which you probably already know having pieced it for our October meeting. (I'm very sorry for the problems this delay may have caused you.)


So here then, without further adieu, is October's block. You can see that is is a double-chain block (the squares that run through both diagonals). And it is also a quick-pieced block.

And here is a simple quilt design from this block. Each block is repeated and rotated to form the secondary patterns established by the two chains.


I wanted the chains to be a stronger element so I created an alternative value study of the block. In this, you can see there is one dark chain and one light chain. The remainder of the block is similar to a Log Cabin with one half dark and the remaining half light.

When we use this value study to create the same layout, you can see how a very strong chain pattern emerges. It reminds me of argyle. This would be a very fast quilt to make because you could use strip-pieced methods to speed the construction. It's on the pile of quilts I'd like to make. If you make one before me, please share!

August Block

Oh August's block is so much fun to piece. Just make a strip set, cut triangles from it, and sew them back together. Easy peasy! Even though it's quick and easy, it makes a really striking block.


As striking as the block is, many blocks together make an even more dramatic quilt.

As soon as the fall newsletter craziness subsides (yes, it's quite close to being mailed out), I hope to add this quilt to my piecing pile. It's fast, fun, and dramatic--just how I like things!

July Block

One of my favorite design tricks is to take a traditional block, like Monkey Wrench below, ask myself questions about what I can do to modify it into a new block.

So I ask myself questions like: what happens if I change the location of light and dark fabrics? Here, you can see it creates a reverse image of the block, like the negative of a photograph. (Does anyone still use negatives anymore?)


But then I wonder, would it be more interesting if I added more fabrics to the block?


I like where this is going, but I could take it further. What would happen if I turned the center square into a four-patch?


And so in asking myself these questions, I changed a traditional Monkey Wrench block into July's block.