Monthly Archives: December 2020

Avoiding Half Square Triangles

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Half square triangles are an important design element in many quilts. The split value and diagonal line allow a variety of dynamic designs.

This is a Half Square Triangle (HST)

One of my quilt groups has been discussing HSTs because some of us love them and some have limited tolerance for them. It matters because we regularly do block exchanges.

One member recently sent a picture of a beautiful depression block quilt, and that got the discussion going again. A depression block quilt is made entirely of HSTs!

This is a typical block from a Depression Quilt

 

This is a traditional Depression Block Quilt made entirely with HSTs

Not being much of a rule-follower, I got to speculating about how we might make this quilt using strips instead of HSTs. (Yes, I get that the original idea was to use up small scraps, but what if you just wanted the overall effect without all those HSTs?) My friend Mary B encouraged me to develop this idea, so here we go.

I did a number of experiments with Electric Quilt 8 (EQ8), which produced all the illustrations for this post.  I learned that the most important element in the success of this quilt is contrast between the values (rather than the colors) of the fabrics. (All the illustrations use Fossil Fern fabrics from the EQ8 fabric library.)

I first tried drawing a block that used strips of lights and darks in place of the rows of triangles. This would simplify construction significantly.

Here’s the block:

Depression block effect without the HSTs

And here’s the quilt:

Then I tried a traditional Courthouse Steps block set on point to mimic the depression block effect.

Here’s the block:

And here’s the quilt:

Finally, I changed up the color arrangement in the traditional Courthouse Steps block to provide more variation.

Here’s the block:

And the quilt:

So! I’m not sure my variations are a good substitute for the traditional Depression Block quilt, but it was fun and I do like the quilts. What do you think, Mary B? 

Christmas 2020

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Our neighborhood was lucky to get a visit from Santa on a warm afternoon.  Everyone wore masks, because we can’t risk Santa getting you-know-what!

I hope your holiday preparations are going equally well!

And it’s back to quilts next week–I just couldn’t resist because this is so 2020.

Designing to Avoid Intersecting Seams

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My friend Chela asked about designing to avoid intersecting seams.  The goal is to make a quilt less “fussy” to construct. Here are 3 ways to do that. Thanks for the idea, Chela!

One of the easiest ways to avoid intersecting seams is to move alternate rows over 1/2 block. This can create interesting designs that you wouldn’t have suspected if you hadn’t tried it!

My most recent example is a quilt I designed for Studio Stitch:

Lightening. Read about it in last week’s post if you like.

Of course, many traditional patterns depend on the blocks lining up exactly to create visual interest.  They might not benefit from shifting half a block!  Just look at this:

Another favorite way to avoid obvious intersections is to partially frame blocks so that they appear offset. The intersections get lost in the background and the design is much more interesting. One of my favorite examples of this is the BQ2 pattern by Maple Island Quilts. 

I taught a class with this pattern and called it “Easier Than It Looks” because it is! The design looks complex but in reality it is just a matter of framing and rotating blocks. Here’s the quilt I made as a sample for the class:

Another example of partially framed blocks is my recent “Little Jewels” quilt:

And good news!  I tracked down the origin of this design and you can find instructions for it free on this website.

Here is an example of one block.

The “trick” is that each block is framed on two sides, making it asymmetrical.  Then alternate blocks are rotated 180 degrees so that any sense of quilt rows is lost!  Make a couple of scrap blocks and try it–it’s magic!  In truth, there are the usual intersections between blocks but the corners are almost impossible to see 😀

Finally, making blocks of different sizes certainly can be used to avoid intersecting seams. I consider this a design-as-you-go process and it does take both time and confidence, but it works well.  Here is one I made ages ago:

art quilt, gwen marston

Refrigerator quilt inspired by Gwen Marston. Bev Manus came up with the idea for refrigerator quilts.  Finished size 12″ x 12″

And here are some recent blocks up on the design wall to test a potential background fabric:

These blocks are all the same size (will finish 6″) but the sashing will be variable.  I’m setting them in vertical rows with variable distances between the rows, and variable distances between the blocks within each row!  No way will there be anything to line up 😀

Have a good week and share any tricks you have to avoid fussy intersections!

A Few Favorite Christmas Patterns

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If you put up a Christmas tree at your home, the tree skirt probably is part of the fun. Because of that, I thought I’d feature a couple of tree skirts I’ve made in the past few years. The patterns were fun and the only potentially difficult part of the construction was the need for bias binding on the scalloped edges.

Garden Gate Quilts
“Trees All Around”, class sample made from the pattern by Quilted Garden Designs

I love the tree skirt with Christmas trees!. Family members loved it, too, so I had to make more than one 😀 It was also a good way to use some of the Christmas fabrics I’ve been unable to resist! I used fusible applique, so it was pretty quick and easy.

Quilted Christmas tree skirt
Snowmen All Around, my class sample from a pattern by Quilted Garden Designs

A year of so later I found this additional tree skirt pattern by the same designer. I love it too, so of course I had to make it.

Which reminds me of this pattern, by Joni Pike, which I reduced to half size so our daughter could use it as a wall hanging rather than a lap quilt. The pattern is called “Frosty Flakes” #806, but I have been unable to find the publisher on the internet recently.

Frosty Flakes, Sew Special Designs

I loved this one, too. I guess, when it comes to winter holidays, I’m trapped in what my friend Elizabeth calls the “dungeon of cute”. So I’ll quit for now!

What cute stuff have you made for Christmas or other holidays?