Tag Archives: quilt design

Star Crossed Christmas Quilt Block

I am either late, or very early.  You choose.

Regardless, this week, I played with the Star Crossed Christmas quilt block from Nancy Martin’s Perpetual Calendar.

Star Crossed Christmas Quilt Block

The block is drawn from a 9 x9 grid.

Here is how it looks in a straight set design:

Star Crossed Christmas Straight Set

I opened up the design a bit by adding the Snowball block to it:

Star Crossed Christmas Straight Set 3

There’s room now, for some lovely quilting!

Let’s try another alternate block:

Star Crossed Christmas Straight Set 4

You never know…by trying alternate blocks, you might come up with something that you really love.  And you might not.

I deleted the star from the block, as well as the red.  Now I have a chain block to use as an alternate with the Star Crossed block:

Star Crossed Christmas Straight Set 5

If you are really sharp, you would notice that I also deleted most of the  nine-patches from the Star Crossed block.  That gave me three blocks to play with…the original star, a star without the nine-patches (except in the center), and the nine-patches without the star.

Another design, simple, but lovely:

Star Crossed Christmas Straight Set 7

I can see the above design on my table.  It doesn’t have to be a full size quilt.

Here’s how the Star Crossed quilt block looks when set on point:

Star Crossed ChristmasOn Point Set

Perhaps you like it better with sashing and cornerstones:

Star Crossed ChristmasOn Point Set 2

Or perhaps you like it better with more open spaces (to show off your beautiful quilting):

Star Crossed ChristmasOn Point Set 3

I think I like this one the best, but I could change my mind tomorrow.

Spinning Tops Quilt Block

This week, I played with the Spinning Tops quilt block; also from the Nancy Martin’s Perpetual Calendar.

Spinning Tops Quilt Block

Spinning Tops is drawn with a 5 x 5 grid.

Get ready for bold color!

Spinning Tops set side-by-side in a straight set:

Spinning Tops Straight Set

A little space was created by eliminating the four inner squares of the block and using this variation as an alternate with the Spinning Tops:

Spinning Tops Straight Set 2

Again, creating an alternate block by eliminating elements from the Spinning Top quilt block:

Spinning Tops Straight Set 3

Spinning Tops set on point:

Spinning Tops On Point Set

Yet another variation set in the center and then surrounded by the Spinning Tops blocks:

Spinning Tops On Point Set 2

The black in the corners is very bold.  Perhaps too bold and overpowering for an already bold design.  I think I’d break that up a bit.

Here is one possibility:

Spinning Tops On Point Set 3

I don’t like it.  Maybe I should’ve left the color in the border. 

Fortunately, Electric Quilt makes it easy for me to try lots of options!

Spider’s Den Quilt Block

Spider’s Den, a quilt block from Nancy Martin’s Perpetual Calendar, is the block that I have chosen to play with this week.

Spider's Den Quilt Block

The block is drawn with a 12 x 12 grid.

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

Spider's Den Straight Set

And here is how it looks set with sashing and cornerstones:

Spider's Den Straight Set 2

Spider’s Den makes a wonderful two color quilt!

But let’s add some blue; just for fun!

Spider's Den Straight Set 3

Now let’s throw in a crossing block and a snowball block and see what we get:

Spider's Den Straight Set 4

Reminds me of baseball; must be because I’ve been listening to my team in spring training.  I’m glad the baseball season is almost here!

Next, I’ve taken out most of the blue and added a different crossing block.  There is a small change in the Spider’s Den block, too.

Spider's Den Straight Set 5

Here’s how the block looks when set on point:

Spider's Den On Point Set

Next, Spider’s Den is still set on point, but set with an alternate block.  I think it makes a great red and white quilt!

Spider's Den On Point Set 2

This next one is similar to one of the straight sets up above: 

Spider's Den On Point Set 3

Last, and maybe least (my least favorite), is a crowded design:

Spider's Den On Point Set 4

The last one has too many elements competing for attention.  Or maybe it is a simple matter of moving the color around.  I may work on that another day.