Tag Archives: quilt design

Airplane Quilt Block

I have been practicing my drawing and designing skills using Electric Quilt and Nancy Martin’s calendar for my tools and inspiration. Nancy Martin CalendarLooking 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.

Airplane Quilt Block

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:

Airplane Quilt

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

Wyoming Valley Star Quilt Block

This week’s practice block is the Wyoming Valley Star.

Wyoming Valley Star Quilt Block

It is drawn with a 6 x 6 grid.

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

Wyoming Valley Star Straight Set

How about a little color to add a spark to the quilt?  All I did was draw a line across the four corners of the block and popped the color in.

Wyoming Valley Star Straight Set

Let’s open up the design a bit.  This time I deleted lines from the Wyoming Valley Star quilt block to create alternate blocks.

Wyoming Valley Star Straight Set

The same block looks different when the color is moved around.

Wyoming Valley Star Straight Set

It is nice to have open spaces to show off your quilting skill.

Wyoming Valley Star Straight Set

The next design is similar to the first, but the Wyoming Valley Star quilt block is now set on point:

Wyoming Valley Star On Point Set

Another variation on point:

Wyoming Valley Star On Point Set

Lots of room for quilting!

Wyoming Valley Star On Point Set

If I were to make one of these last two, I think I would play with border variations.  I might like something simpler to go with the simpler quilt design.

Wyoming Valley Star On Point Set

What do you think?

Wedding Ring Quilt Block

This week, I am playing with the Wedding Ring quilt block, found in the perpetual calendar, 365 Quilt Blocks a Year by Nancy Martin.

On the left, a traditional blue and white block is pictured.  On the right, a more dramatic color scheme is shown.

Wedding Ring is drafted from a 5 x 5 grid.

Here is how the traditional colored block looks in a straight set:

Wedding Ring Straight Set

And again, with sashing strips added:

Wedding Ring Straight Set 2

The two-color quilt is soft and pretty, but what happens when we’re feeling dramatic?

Wedding Ring Straight Set 3

I created alternate blocks by eliminating a few lines from the Wedding Ring quilt block.

Wedding Ring Straight Set 4

Soft and pretty Wedding Ring set on point:

Wedding Ring On Point Set

And again, set on point with alternate blocks created by simply eliminating lines from the Wedding Ring quilt block:

Wedding Ring On Point Set 2

The next three variations are for the drama queen in all of us:

Wedding Ring On Point Set 3

Wedding Ring On Point Set 4

Wedding Ring On Point Set 5

I think my favorite is #6, but I’m fickle…I could change my mind, as I often do, when I try different settings, color schemes, and blocks.  Fortunately, Electric Quilt makes quilt designing easy and fun.

Which is your favorite?