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?

Look What She Did

Susan used my Connaught alphabet to make this label for the quilt she is giving her grandson Lucas for Christmas.

Look What They Did

Maureen made a pillow for a young man (a friends grandson?) who likes alligators.

She used my Connaught alphabet for his initials.

The letters are 6" tall.

Linda made mug mats using what started out as a tree decorations for the O's.

She used a shortened version of Connaught for the J and Y.

The letters are 4" tall.

Three Block Quilts # 2

Drunkard's Path




Snowball Variation



Shoo Fly




Today's question: What if I combine these three blocks to create quilt designs?

Today's answer:

Making Visual Choices

Similar Values Associate

When you look at this quilt design it is easy to see that there are red wheels and yellow wheels. Even though they don't actually join up the reds associate to form wheels and the yellows do likewise because similar colors associate.

At the same time similar values associate. All the reds are dark and all the yellows are light.

Three Block Quilts # 1

Drunkard's Path




Friendship Star



Nine Patch




Yesterday I played with Drunkard's Path and Nine Patch to see what I could find. Today I'm adding Friendship Star into the mix.

Paired Blocks # 31

Drunkard's Path
& Nine Patch

Two very simple blocks that I've played with before. I decided to play with them again. Maybe I'll find something different this time.

Making Visual Choices

Use Change In Size
To Suggest Depth

This trick is as old as the hills, maybe even older. Everybody knows that things far a way look smaller. Therefore something smaller must be farther away.

And it works. It's hard to see the bird on the right as being right next to the one on the left only half the size. But if it's an actual quilt then that's what is happening.


The bird is from my 23 June 2010 post.

Making Visual Choices

Similar Colors Associate

Because they are reds, all the reds in this quilt connect and form a ribbon.

Mix & Match # 5

Jacob's Ladder
& Ohio Star

Ohio Star on the left and Jacob's Ladder on the right are two very traditional blocks that anybody can easily make.

Anybody means you.