Tag Archives: Nancy Martin calendar blocks

Using Electric Quilt , I am playing with the Alpine Cross quilt block this week.

It is drawn with a 5 x 5 grid.

For the practice, I prefer to draw it myself, but if you have BlockBase, then search for #1876a.

Here is what Alpine Cross looks like in a straight set:

I thought I added a great border.  Now I think it is too distracting.  I’d change that if I were going to make this quilt design.  LOL!

Next, I added sashing and cornerstones.

I like it much better.

What if I move the color around?

Take the time to play with color and value placement.  I should’ve changed the color of those cornerstones.  Sometimes moving color and value around makes all the difference between an okay design, a good design, and a great design.  And more often, it is simply a matter of personal taste.

You can change the color scheme altogether too.  I tried to choose a woodsy, masculine theme for this exercise.  The pink is really needed to create the contrast (although a very light beige or white would’ve worked very well).  Keep contrast in mind when you are choosing color and value.

I also kept the fabric choices to a minimum, just for simplicity’s sake.  One could certainly get very scrappy if one wanted to.

I deleted some lines in the Alpine Cross block, to come up with an alternate block.  It simplified the design and I like it.  Some of the blocks are rotated too.

Again, I altered the Alpine Cross to create another alternate block.  Now I have more to play with, and the designs are getting interesting.

What do you think?