Tag Archives: Nancy Martin’s Perpetual Calendar

Airplane Quilt Block

Posted on June 7, 2013 | 11 comments

I have been practicing my drawing and designing skills using Electric Quilt and Nancy Martin’s calendar for my tools and inspiration. Looking back, I can see lots of personal growth.

However, the Airplane block was a bit of a drawing challenge for me. It is not done with an obvious grid.

But I conquered!

In fact, as I sit here, writing, and looking at the block, I realize that I may have drawn this the hard way. Those bright yellow squares are now jumping out at me, and they would make an obvious grid to use as a starting off point. Something I did not do (Why didn’t I see that when I was drawing?!). LOL!

I started out with the EasyDraw worktable. Mistake! If you want to practice this block, choose the EasyDraw + PatchDraw worktable. You’ll need the PatchDraw to draw the propeller. If you forget, and use the EasyDraw worktable, like I did, you will need to copy your block and paste it to the EasyDraw + PatchDraw worktable.

Thank you, Electric Quilt Genies, for making it possible to copy and paste entire blocks for folks like me! I really didn’t want to have to redraw the whole thing!

And here is the quilt design that I came up with:

All of the blocks can be found in Electric Quilt’s block library. How cool is that?!

11 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged Airplane quilt block, baby quilt, child's quilt, Electric Quilt, LCsCottage, Nancy Martin's Perpetual Calendar, patchwork, quilt design, quilting

Vermont Quilt Block

Posted on April 26, 2013 | 6 comments

I played with the Vermont quilt block this week.

The block is drawn with an 8 x 8 grid.

The block on the left is the way the block is colored in Nancy Martin’s Perpetual Calendar, 365 Quilts A Year. The block on the right is my colored variation.

For comparison, I’ve put both variations in a straight set.

There is no right or wrong; it is simply a matter of personal preference, or the look one wants. Using two or three colors is common in many wonderful traditional quilts.

The next three designs are also straight settings, but the Vermont quilt block has been altered to create an alternate block to use with the original. The Snowball quilt block is also used.

The Vermont quilt block set on point:

And three more on point designs using the Vermont block, a couple of variations, and the Snowball block:

Which do you like the best?

Not every design is a winner. I certainly don’t like all the virtual quilts that I’ve designed. That’s not the point. The point is to play; to learn what works and what doesn’t. Enjoy the process, and maybe make a real quilt once in a while.

6 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged LCsCottage, Nancy Martin's Perpetual Calendar, patchwork, quilt blocks, quilt design, quilting, Vermont quilt block

Triangle Weave Quilt Block

Posted on April 19, 2013 | 4 comments

I played with the Triangle Weave quilt block (from Nancy Martin’s Perpetual Calendar 365 Quilt Blocks A Year) this week.

The block can be drawn with a 4 x 4 grid.

Here is how it looks set side-by-side in a straight set:

In the following design, I have switched the white and gray. I have also rotated some of the blocks.

Next, there are plain blocks added. The original block has been altered. You can see this by looking at a corner block.

Again, I’ve made a simple alteration to the Triangle Weave quilt block and the change creates a pinwheel in the center. I also deleted some lines to create another version of the block. This allowed the red points to really show up.

In this next design, I have changed some of the red from the Triangle Weave block to black. This new block created the illusion of space, yet it is the exact same block.