Tag Archives: Nancy Martin Perpetual Calendar Blocks

Train Quilt Block

Some time ago, I thought it would be great practice for me to work my way through drawing the blocks found in Nancy Martin’s Perpetual Calendar 365 Blocks A Year.  The calendar was published in 1999.  I don’t know that I have had it that long, but I’ve certainly had it a very long time.

Obviously, I don’t work a block a day, but I’ve worked (I should say played) my way through quite a few blocks.  You can find them by clicking on the Quilt Blocks tab in my header.

And I have learned, and gained confidence, in using grids to draw blocks, as well as experimenting in quilt design.

The following block is simply named Train in Nancy’s calendar.

Train Quilt Block

Train is easily drawn using an 8 x 8 grid.

I think this block is a great little block for children’s quilts!

Train

Or perhaps use just one block and a track border for a fun little pillow for a child.

Sister’s Choice Quilt Block

Let’s explore the Sister’s Choice Quilt Block.

The block is a traditional favorite.

Sister's Choice

Sister’s Choice is drawn with a 5 x 5 grid.

Here the blocks are set in a straight set with sashing:

Sister's Choice Straight Set

I’ve moved the color a bit, and that puts more emphasis on the stars:

Sister's Choice Straight Set 2

Let’s look at some straight sets without the sashing.

Sister's Choice Straight Set 3

The next one not only has the sashing removed, but the alternate blocks have some additional lines drawn.  The result is a star within a star.

Sister's Choice Straight Set 4

More alternate block experimenting:

Sister's Choice Straight Set 5

Sister's Choice Straight Set 6

Delete quite a few lines in the alternate block, and it opens up the entire design…great for the quilting lovers! 

Sister's Choice Straight Set 7

Moving blocks around, as well as adding and deleting lines from the original block (Sister’s Choice in this blog post), creates interesting designs.

Sister's Choice Straight Set 8

Sister's Choice Straight Set 9

Sister's Choice Straight Set 10

Let’s not forget about color (most importantly…value).  Changing values creates completely different looks!

Sister's Choice Straight Set 11

When designing your next quilt, take time to experiment with the block’s grid (adding/deleting lines to create alternate blocks), as well as value placement.

You will come up with a winner (or several)!  And have fun doing it!

I use Electric Quilt 7 for quilt designing.  Block Base is another great tool.  Sister’s Choice is #J008 in Block Base.  A pad of graph paper and colored pencils work well too!

Good Luck Quilt Block

I nearly skipped this block from Nancy Martin’s Perpetual Calendar 365 Quilt Blocks A Year.    I couldn’t see the design potential.

But with a name like Good Luck, how could I pass up the challenge?

Good Luck Quilt Block

Good Luck is an easy block to draw.  Simply slice a square in half diagonally and then draw two horizontal lines up to the diagonal.

I always begin my quilt design by looking at the block set side by side in a straight set.

Good Luck Straight Set

I’m thinking that without borders, and made smaller, the above could have potential to be a cute modern baby quilt.

The next design shows alternate Good Luck blocks rotated.

Good Luck Straight Set

More rotation:

Good Luck Straight Set

What if I merged four Good Luck blocks into one block, placed these blocks side by side, and rotated the alternates?

I have a nice basket weave thing going on.

Good Luck Straight Set

It might be well worth it to explore the four-into-one block by rotating some of the parts.  I didn’t think of that until just now, so will have to save that idea to play with later.

What I did think to do was to add another color and play with value.  Two examples of that:

Good Luck Straight Set

Good Luck Straight Set

There is no difference in the layouts of the above two designs.  Color/value is doing all the work.

The next design is playing with scale.  No new blocks are added.

Good Luck Straight Set

I did alter the Good Luck block by drawing a half square triangle into two corners.  The pleasant result is the pinwheels you see in the next design.

Good Luck Straight Set

There’s room for lots more exploration.  Except for the last design shown, I used only the Good Luck quilt block.  What about experimenting with alternate blocks and sashing? 

Who knew that one could get so much design potential from such a simple little block?