I’m sitting here in Tuckerville, watching TV, looking at my ceiling. I pin orphan blocks on my drop ceiling.
Two of a Kind
These two blocks are made from the same fabric and units. They both have a Square Squared for the block center, 4 V Block units for the star points and 4 Shaded Four Patch Units (with the Tucker Trimmer I) in the block corners. The top block has the Shaded Four Patch unit small square facing out, while the bottom block has the Shaded Four Patch unit small square facing in. Two very different looks from the same block.
As I stared at these blocks on the ceiling I wondered what the secondary design would be if I put them in a quilt. Time to break out EQ8!
I used shades of purple and lavender because I thought my sister may like it. This is pretty cool. EQ8 is fun to use and brings quilt designs to life. Time to break out my Studio 180 Design tools get busy!
The fabrics shown in this post were given to me by Island Batik.
Tropical Escape
Last January Island Batik gave me a secret bundle to hold onto till November, it was Tropical Escape shown above. I sat and looking at the bundle of gorgeous fabrics, waiting for them to talk to me. The goal is for me to introduce the Tropical Escape fabric line by making a quilt showcasing as many of the 20 fabrics as possible.
I decided to use Studio 180 Design’s BlockBuster pattern #29 Pointsettia. This block requires the Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star, Split Rects and Tucker Trimmer I tools. You can download the BlockBuster pattern below:
I loved that the Poinsettia block could be made in 7″, 14″ or 21″ finished blocks. I chose the 21″ blocks.
Time to break out the paper plates. I sorted my fabrics by color and value, pairing a light/medium value with a darker value. This would allow me to use 16 different fabrics to form the flowers. I would use the lighter value fabric for the Lemoyne star quarters and the darker value fabrics for the split rects units.
My tip for staying organized while making Lemoyne stars is to label two paper plates, one “A” & one “B”. Follow the Lemoyne star tool instructions. When you come to Step 7, make one 45 degree cut – then imediateley reposition your ruler to cut the side triangles as you go.
If you are right handed the “B” strip was on the bottom & the “A” strip was on top. Place the “A” unit on the plate marked “A” and the “B” unit on the plate marked “B”, place one triangle on each plate also. (If you are left handed the “A” strip would be on the bottom and the “B” strip would be on top). Continue cutting your units, placing each unit on their assigned plate. Construct the Lemoyne units as instructed. Throughout the process you will always know which units are “A” and which are “B”. This is important for knowing which way to press your seams. Another tip for pressing the lemoyne star units is to “remember, the Lemoyne star point should always be pointed to the left”. To make Lemoyne star quarters you will square them up using your Tucker Trimmer 1 before stitching them to the split rects units.
Layout your Lemoyne quarters with your mirror image split rects units and stitch together.
Press seams as shown above.
Continue making your Lemoyne star quarters/split rects units. They are all constructed the same way.
Stitch a background rectangle with each Lemoyne quarter/split rects unit as shown. Follow block assembly instruction in the BlockBuster #29 pattern.
At first I decided to make 6 – 21″ blocks measuring 60″ x 83″.
But I discovered I had enough units to make 9 blocks with left over Lemoyne quarters for the use in the outer border. Quilt measures 83″ x 83″.
It’s funny how this quilt came about. It stared with Island Batik’s fabric line: Tropical Escape; BlockBuster’s Pointsettia block (a Christmas flower); and it is named after a canyon in Arizona. I named this quilt Copper Canyon Blooms as I think they look like desert blooms! In the supply list below I’ve given you fabric requirements for both the 6 block top and the 9 block top.
The beautiful fabrics featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik.
The Island Batik Ambassadors assignment for September is “Childs Play”, make a quilt inspired/designed for a child.
Included in Island Batik Ambassador’s Box 2, I was given a gorgeous fat quarter bundle from the Enchanted Forest line. These fabrics are so beautiful and the name “Enchanted Forest” reminds me of being a child at my grandparents house. My sister Mary and I would go through the backyard, past the little league field, playground and into the woods. For my sister and I, those woods were magical. We imagined we could find a fairy floating by around every tree & magical creatures of all sorts living in our Enchanted Forest along the Saquoit Creek. The many shades of green in the variety of trees and moss were amazing. In the Spring, we couldn’t wait to go hunting for violets, and would come home with beautiful bouquets for our Grandma Bessie.
I pin orphan blocks to the ceiling in my quilt studio. As I was contemplating what to make I spotted a favorite block. For me the creative process usually begins with EQ8, so off I went to see what I would come up with.
I love the flower affect that is created by using Shaded Four Patch & Split Rects units. I decided on a 10″ finished block using 4″ finished Shaded Four Patch units & 2″ X 4″ finished Split Rects Units.
I used all the fabulous fabrics in the fat quarter bundle and made each flower unique. Vivi’s Flowers was constructed with Aurifil Thread and completed with Hobbs Tuscany Silk Blend Batting. This quilt was made for my friend Cher Green’s beautiful Granddaughter Vivi. I named this quilt “Vivi’s Flowers”. It measures 46″ X 58″. If you would like a supply list for this quilt you may download it here:
Wow, the last week in August gets so busy! Have you visited Island Batik for week 4’s project reveals? There are two more days to go next week then it is over. Here are links to this weeks reveals:
If you follow my blog you know I have a female chihuahua named “Tucker”. Tucker is definitely in charge!
Tucker keeps a close eye on everything I’m doing. All that supervision makes her sleepy. She will climb on my head to get me to go to bed by 7:30 at the latest. I’m not ready to sleep that early, so I am usually on my laptop. Last night I was playing with EQ8. I was drawing the BlockBuster patterns by Deb Tucker. It is so much fun seeing what the blocks will look in quilt.
One of the blocks I was playing with last night BlockBuster 10 Twisted Pinwheel. This block has a 4 patch in the center, High/Low units & Sidekick units made with the V Block tool and Sidekick High\Low Technique Sheet. I was able to load fabric scans of Island Batik fabrics into the EQ8 software.
I decided to design the quilt with 12″ finished blocks, on point, adding sashing with 6″ Twisted Pinwheels as cornerstones and Piano key outer borders. What a nice way to end summer! Have a great weekend everyone!
If These Threads Could Talk 