Long time no see! I’m stealing the blog from Tricia this week – it’s been a while since I snuck in here and did a tutorial. Sorry it’s been so long, but things have been awfully busy at the VRD shop and I’ve been working hard to create new patterns for you, too.
I heard Tricia’s doing a bunch of tutorials to help everybody get back into quilting this fall, so I thought I’d add one to the mix – Morning Tea. Yup, another Tea quilt. LOL!
Anyway, let’s get back to today’s tutorial, Morning Tea.
VRD Morning Tea Quilt Tutorial
Here’s Morning Tea, designed by our very own VRD Rose Queen, Pat. It’s a fat quarter (18″ x 21″) friendly pattern plus you need to add a background fabric. And of course, it’s fast and fun!
If you don’t have the pattern yet, you can get your print copy HERE or digital copy HERE
I wanted to play around with some of our Aboriginal fabrics in the VRD shop again and decided on this range of blues. Fun, huh? The squiggly light fabric towards the bottom of the photo is my background and the one in front if it is my binding.
Lucky you! We even have some kits left, and you can get yours HERE. Your kit comes with the fat quarters (FQs), background fabric, binding, and the pattern. I do have to say some of the fabrics have been discontinued but we did add some great replacements and they work perfectly too.
Let’s rock this quilt!
First step is to divide your fat quarters into 2 piles. From the first group, we’re going to cut them into 2 different widths.
2. From the remaining smaller group of FQs, you’ll cut the strips all the same width.
3. The background strips are all cut the same size by the width of the fabric, then we’re going to cut the long strips in half so our strips are the same length as our fat quarter strips. Genius!
4. Sew a background strip to each of the largest FQ strips. Next cut each of those strip sets into segments. I’m going to name these Unit A so we can keep everything straight as we go along.
5. Sew the remaining background strips between the small and the medium FQ strips. Subcut them into segments. These strip sets, I’m naming Unit B.
6. Are you following along? Because now we are going to sew our A and B units into blocks. Taking 2 of unit A and 2 of unit B, sew together with As on the outside and Bs in the middle. You’ll need to flip the last 2 units.
7. You will now make a reversed block with 2 more of each A & B units, turning the last 2 units as shown.
8. You should now have the same number of each block. Time to play! You can lay your quilt out just like the pattern or you can play around with the layout and create some fun variations.
Here’s the original layout.
And here’s some cool variations to try out.
I bet you can even come up with your own block arrangement, so have fun!
9. When you’ve decided how you want to arrange your blocks, it’s time to sew the blocks into rows and then sew the rows together into the quilt top.
For my Morning Tea quilt, I’m going to stick with the original layout. Totally loving how it turned out!
10. Next up – layer, quilt, bind, and label your quilt.
Don’t forget to post your quilts on our VRD Facebook page or tag us on Instagram, #villarosadesigns. We love seeing your creations!
Thanks for stopping by and sewing with me!
Next week, Tricia will be back with another great tutorial for you.
After our super fun Let’s Design a Quilt series (if you missed it, please check out the right side bar on the blog to find all of the links for the series) wrapped up last week, I promised a new group of tutorials to jump-start your autumn quilting.
You know how this time of the year is filled with local fairs and such right before the kiddos go back to school? Well, this week we’re off to the rodeo! Yippee!
Have you ever been to a rodeo? I have a vague memory of going when I was a kid. My Grandma (my Dad’s mom) was always crazy about horses and always had at least a couple on the farm (my Grandpa always had his cows). I spent a lot of time on the farm as a kid as my grandparents’ farm was just down the road from our house. I have lots of good memories on the farm from when I was a kid. Baby animals were probably my favorite. Of course, running through the fields at midnight in the summer chasing down stray cows or horses was always fun, too. Good times.
Let’s slap our cowgirl (or cowboy) hats on our heads, put on our boots, and get started!
VRD Tea With Mara Quilt Tutorial
Tea With Mara is designed by Deanne of Creative Sewlutions, one of our talented VRD designers. This quilt finishes at a generous 58″ x 72″ and it can handle those large prints we are so loathe to chop up. Use printed panel squares……or not down the center. Sew many options……..sew little time!
PSST! Don’t forget, patterns always ship free, so grab a few more while you’re perusing the VRD patterns at the online shop.
For today’s tutorial, I’m using fabric from our friends over at Hoffman. It’s a digital-printed collection called Rodeo Dreams. When I saw this collection, I loved it! Maybe because it brought back fun memories from my childhood? So I’m letting you know right now that you’ll be seeing a couple more tutorials featuring Rodeo Dreams.
Just a quick word of caution when using digitally-printed fabrics – start with a brand new needle because if your needle is dull, you run the risk of damaging the fabric and we certainly don’t want to do that.
The first fabric I’m going to cut is the running yardage of the rodeo vignettes. I’m very glad I have a ruler the same size as the required block size in the pattern so I can fussy cut the squares easily and accurately.
Having the right sized ruler makes it a lot easier to fussy cut these vignettes than trying to cut strips and then cutting the strips into squares. This type of fabric makes strips and squares kind of tricky because the vignettes aren’t all the same size nor do they line up in a perfect grid.
Love quilting rulers! Boy, they do make quilting so much easier, faster, and more accurate.
Mostly, I rely on my 6×24 and 6×12 rulers for cutting, but it’s always a great idea to have a collection of square rulers in the most common sizes, which are not only good for fussy cutting, but also for squaring up blocks.
The only problem with fussy cutting is that your fabric will look like Swiss cheese when you get all done! LOL! Check mine out below. I can still fussy cut more pieces out of the fabric, but there is definitely more waste doing it this way than cutting strips into squares. Just something to think about if you’ve never fussy cut before.
Now I’m finished making Swiss cheese, it’s time to cut the rest of my fabrics. Loving this red bandana print – it looks like the real thing (digitally printed, of course)!
Here are all my fabrics cut and ready to sew.
But before I start sewing, I’m going to lay out all of the pieces on my flannel wall. I want to make sure I like the placement of the rodeo vignettes before I commit to their positions permanently.
I really like the nice big pieces in this quilt, even if I have to layer pieces on the floor because the quilt is going to be longer than my flannel wall. It’s going together surprisingly fast, though.
Of course, you don’t have to fussy cut your fabrics like I did – you could use any fabric you wanted for the center squares. Or you could even scrap this quilt up and use some of your stash. Such a versatile pattern – I could totally picture this quilt in a great collection of fall or harvest fabrics! Hmmmmmmmm….
You could even add a 6″ finished border, which would make the quilt a big 70″ x 84″!
Now I’ve got all my pieces up on the flannel wall. I switched a couple of the rodeo vignettes around, but other than that, I think it’s ready to sew. I like how it looks.
Yippee-ki-yi-yay! Let’s sew this little dogie together! I really like how the fabrics alternate in placement from side to side – it definitely helps to keep your eyes moving around the quilt. The red and blue bandana fabrics really make this quilt in addition to the rodeo vignette squares. LOVE IT!
And here it is outside on the clothesline. All I need is a horse or 2 grazing in the backyard, right? I’ll be binding this quilt with the dark blue batik you see in the fabric and pattern photo way up at the beginning of this tutorial. I think it will frame the quilt nicely.
Now to get this quilt top layered, quilted, bound, and labeled…….some day, anyway. Right now I’m going to add it to my teetering pile of flimsies and UFOs. I’m hoping to make a good-sized dent in that pile this fall and winter. It’s just been way too hot this summer to machine quilt and do binding.
Here’s to autumn with its warm days and cool nights. And the brilliant colors of the season…. I can’t wait!
What’s shakin’? Me, just sitting here thinking about which quilt block we’re going to feature today to wrap up our Design a Quilt series. I’m kind of bummed that today’s the final post in this series, but it is true that all good things must come to an end. That makes sense, because, if they didn’t then we would never have the opportunity to find new good things.
I’ve also been thinking about how you, dear readers, can utilize what we’ve covered in this series. The biggest thing that occurs to me, of course, is designing your own quilts using common quilt blocks. Common quilt block designs (like Nine Patch, Irish Chain, Four Patch, Sawtooth Star, etc., etc.) would most likely be considered in the public domain.
Want to find public domain quilt block designs? Just Google it! Pretty much all quilt block designs (and everything else in print) from publications before 1923 are considered public domain. Another idea is to look up quilt block history to see if the blocks were used before 1923. You can also invest in a quilt block reference or 2.
For those of you who may not have heard of Barbara Brackman – she is probably the most well-known quilt historian in the USA, if not the world. Her book is meticulously researched and includes a reference section with original publications for the blocks in the book. Believe me, you will never run out of inspiration – there are over 4000 blocks in the book!
Another oldie but goodie block reference is The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America by Carrie A. Hall and Rose G. Kretsinger. This book was published in 1935 and is actually in the public domain itself. It includes A LOT of old pieced and appliqued quilt blocks and quilts along with historical notes. You might be able to find a used copy as its out of print, or I’ve included a link to an e-book version above.
What does all this mean, really?
If you want to sell quilts, the best way to do that is to design your own instead of using someone’s copyright-protected pattern, which, as we’ve previously explored, has the potential to cause you legal issues down the road.
Want to be a quilt designer?
Create/sell your own patterns?
Design quilts for quilt magazines?
Write a quilt book?
Easy peasy, use public domain/common quilt blocks to create your own designs. Then your designs would be copyright protected, too.
Huh. Kind of mind-blowing, isn’t it? That doing something so simple – and FUN! – can become your own copyright-protected work.
Just something for you to think about….
Let’s move on to today’s block: Drunkard’s Path.
Let’s Design a Quilt: The Drunkard’s Path Block
Here is a basic Drunkard’s Path block unit.
The Drunkard’s Path block has a very interesting and rich history with roots in ancient Egypt. The block was popular with the Underground Railroad and the Women’s Temperance movement in the US. For a more and detailed history, please check out this article on the AccuQuilt blog: A History of the Drunkard’s Path Quilt Patterns.
Today, we are going to explore some of the interesting ways you can arrange this humble block unit, add sashing or not, and using color to tweak the design.
Before we can design a Drunkard’s Path quilt, we need to explore some of the many many different Drunkard’s Path variations. Believe me, these ideas are just the tip of the iceberg.
Here are a few books to explore more Drunkard’s Path designs.
Here are different ways to arrange the units in a 2 x 2 layout. Which one is your favorite?
Okay, let’s try a 3 x 3 grid.
Now let’s see what a 4 x 4 grid looks like.
So I think you get the idea about the endless possibilities of the Drunkard’s Path block unit. Why don’t you try a 5 x 5 grid or a 6 by 6 grid to see what you can create?
Now let’s play with the color arrangement by swapping reds and whites in order to create new and different designs from the ones above.
Let’s add more colors to our blocks, shall we? That way we can get even more interesting variations. You can see how adding more color can change a block design or even add a secondary design. Never underestimate the power of adding more color.
Okay, now it’s time to create quilt designs using some of the variations above! Let’s start with this bird variation.
I like this bird quilt arrangement very much, but I don’t love how all the birds are facing the same way.
Let’s turn the birds in different directions. Hmmm. I only see a small difference here. Let’s keep going.
Better with sashing and sashing squares, but I’m still not too excited by it.
Okay, let’s remove the sashing and turn the birds some more to see what happens. AHA! Yes, this is more like it.
I think we can call this a finished design. Let’s add some fabric. It would definitely make a bold 2 color quilt as long as you have strong contrast between the colors like the red and white example above. But let’s add more than 2 colors.
Yup, this one rocks. I’m using fabrics from QT’s American Spirit collection. I took a chance and flip flopped the fabrics in the centers and it really sets this design off.
Now let’s try a different Drunkard’s Path block variation from above.
I like this interesting block arrangement, especially with the checkerboard behind the blue circles. Very 3-D. But I bet we can tweak it to change it from an okay quilt to a WOW quilt.
Just a quick turn of some blocks and we get this design with lots of movement. Kind of fun, huh?
Let’s add some fabric to this one. Can’t wait to see it! Here’s a selection of yummy Hoffman batiks. This super mod design has a lot going for it!
Let’s play with another block.
All right, let’s see what this block looks like in a quilt. Gosh, I’m really liking this one. It reminds of a tile floor. But I think we can tweak it a bit to make it outstanding.
YES! This is the finished design. Adding sashing and sashing squares was just the tweak I needed, which added a wonderful secondary design.
Yippee! Time to add fabric! I think this design is spectacular!
Let’s do one more!
Let’s see how this variation plays in a quilt. I really like this design – it makes me think of Halloween bats flying in front of a full moon. But I think we can tweak it a bit more.
Let’s try sashing again. Sometimes this is the way to go and sometimes it isn’t. This one improves with sashing, definitely! I love the diagonal movement the design has now. What do you think?
Only thing left to do is to add FABRIC! I’m using assorted Hoffman batiks again and I played up the Halloween moon idea by making the background grey like twilight. Totally loving this!
Sadly, that wraps up our 5 part Let’s Design a Quilt series. I have had SEW much fun with this series. I hope you did too. I can envision adding more to this series down the road. Maybe I will focus on on-point quilt designs….
If you missed any posts in the series, you can find them all right here:
I know I say it every month, but our VRD designers are totally outstanding! Every month, they exceed the previous month’s designs. Let’s take a look at each pattern this month.
Grated by Heidi
Grated uses a stack of fat sixths (which are between a fat eighth and a fat quarter, measuring 12″ x 21″) or 10″ squares. This is a big quilt measuring 65″ x 75.” There are still kits available, which feature Klimt fabrics like the pattern cover. You can get your Grated kit, which includes the pattern, HERE.
Lady Banks by VRD (Pat)
If you are following along with the Tim Holtz Palette collections then Lady Banks is for you. It features the blue palette and finishes at 45″ x 60″. You can find the kit (including the pattern) HERE.
Catherine is back with 2 new mod patterns this month! Jasper is FQ friendly and finishes at 36×48, which makes a nice baby quilt or lap quilt. You can find the kit HERE featuring the Camp Canine collection at Running Doe Quilts.
Jolene is Catherine’s second quilt this month. It uses FQs and finishes at a generous 63″ x 84″. You can find the kit HERE at VRD featuring the Thirty-One collection or HERE at Running Doe Quilts featuring the Camp Canine collection.
Snap Shot by Molly
Snap Shot is another one of Molly’s creative panel quilts. It is FQ friendly and finishes at a nice 45″ x 54″, which could be a wall quilt or a throw. Sorry, but VRD is out of Snap Shot kits already.
Apologies, but there is no table runner this month. Stay tuned for next month’s runner!
SEW, which NEW pattern are you going to make first?????
Now let’s turn our thoughts to our ongoing Quilt Design series.
Let’s Design a Quilt: The Farmer’s Daughter Block
Here is the traditional Farmer’s Daughter block. According to Barbara Brackman, this block was first published in Clara Stone’s 1906 booklet, Practical Needlework: Quilt Patterns, which was part of a needlework booklet series by C. W. Calkins & Co. in Boston. Of course, like most quilt patterns, it was probably being made long before it was published. One of our readers suggested this block last week and I just couldn’t resist it. Thank you, dear reader! I hope I do the block justice for you!
Yikes! See how the four corners of the block feature set-in seams? Well, the first change to this block we are going to make is to change the four corners to be much friendlier by using Half Square Triangles (HSTs) instead of set-in pieces. Ahhhh! That’s more like it!
Now we’re ready to play — er, design! Let’s put Farmer’s Daughter blocks in a quilt. Huh! When you set the blocks side to side, you lose the block and a whole new design emerges. Pretty cool!
Now let’s add some sashing to see what that looks like. Neat-o! Sashing shows off the block. I just love the secondary design where the block corners (with the green squares) meet the sashing squares. Both designs have a lot of movement already and I haven’t done anything except the HSTs.
Wowzer! Look what happens when I change the colors to black, grey, white, and red. I’d call this a finished design right now, wouldn’t you???? It almost has a 3D effect. Cool beans!
Here’s the same design, but I changed the red to white. Holy cow, Batman! It’s really eye-catching and the black negative space is just itching for some really cool machine quilting.
Here’s the same design again, but I changed the grey to red. Oh my! It just about leaps off the screen. Just by playing around with the colors.
This is only ONE of sew many reasons why I love my Electric Quilt 8 software. I can tweak some tiny little thing and if I don’t like it, I can go back or keep tweaking. If you haven’t ever tried EQ8, you really should. It is a total game changer for quilters everywhere!
But wait! We’re not done yet. Let’s go back to the block and split the corner sections into 2 colors, instead of just 1 color. I also changed the center square to blue, which gives it an interesting pinwheel design in the center.
Let’s see what it looks like in a quilt. Hmmm. Not very interesting. At least not yet.
Let’s add some sashing. I’m gong to introduce black for the sashing squares. Better, but no way near finished. Let’s keep going.
Let’s flip the black and white for the sashing and sashing squares. WHOAH! I am loving this sashing idea – it is incredibly graphic! But now we need to tweak the blocks some more.
Before we work on the blocks some more, it needs a border to frame it. It just looked a bit unfinished without it, don’t you think?
That’s it! Okay, on to the blocks. Let’s swap the blue and yellow in the 4 corners back to 1 color, red. And change the blue center to white so it repeats the white sashing square. I love how graphic it is. Your thoughts?
One more tweak. Let’s change the center square in the blocks to black. Yup! That’s it! Love the plus sign in the center of the blocks! This design has a clean modern look yet it feels traditional, too. It is totally the best of both worlds.
All right! Let’s add some fabric. Again, I’m using batiks from Hoffman’s 1895 Watercolors collection. I did make one more tweak by changing the sashing squares to match the plus signs. Don’t you just love it in pinks? The black has a slight bluish tinge for added interest. Again, it has a bit of a 3D effect. Done and done!
Do you remember where we started? A Classic Farmer’s Daughter block.
How far we came just by changing the colors, playing with the fabric placement, and adding sashing/border.
How are you going to explore these ideas with your quilts???
Well, that’s it for me for our 4th week in our Let’s Design a Quilt Series. If you missed any posts, you can catch up here:
The forecast for today is sum-sum-summertime with a strong chance of quilting! SEW much to do today, so let’s get started.
Before we jump into this week’s Quilt Design adventure, though, I want to share a fun SNEAK PEEK with you from our friends over at QT Fabrics. You might recall that VRD has been working closely with QT to pair their new fabric collections with our patterns. Here is our latest collaboration:
These upcoming fabric collections are being shown to quilt shops right now and will ship in late 2025/early 2026. If you see something you like — ask for the collection (and VRD patterns, of course) at you local quilt shop.
Churn Dash Challenge Winner
As part of my Quilt Design series last week, I offered up a challenge to you – see what you could do with the Churn Dash block.
First, I want to thank those of you who shared your ideas, creations, blocks, and quilts.
And the winner is………………………..
Lisa from KY
Lisa won with her charming Churn Dash quilt, below, featuring multiple sizes of her Churn Dash blocks with the added fun of novelty farm panels and prints inside each block. Way to go, Lisa!
Log Cabin Inspiration
Folks were really inspired by last week’s Courthouse Steps block quilt design party and suggested we stay in the Log Cabin zone. Thank you for those suggestions, but I want to keep addressing different kinds of blocks to maximize your inspiration when it comes to designing quilts. There are entire books written about Log Cabin blocks and quilts and a few blog posts just can’t do the topic justice, I am afraid.
In lieu of more Log Cabin blocks, here is a short list of Log Cabin books for you to explore. I tried to choose a variety to show you here on the blog, but believe me – there are tons more out there just waiting to inspire your next Log Cabin quilt.
After enjoying your Log Cabin comments and quilt photos, it occurred to me that I have not done a Star block yet……..so today’s the day!
The Sawtooth Star Block
I chose an oldie, but a goodie for today – the Sawtooth Star.
Sawtooth Star is known by many names and has a lot of different variations. Apparently, it first appeared in print in the 1880’s or 1890’s in popular publications such as Farm and Fireside Magazine as well as in the Ladies Art Company catalog in 1895. The Sawtooth Star block was block # 5. Like most quilt blocks, however; Sawtooth Star blocks were probably being made long before they ever appeared in print.
Here is our classic 2 color Sawtooth Star block.
So, let’s make a quilt. Here are 20 blocks set side by side. This makes a lovely classic 2 color quilt, but of course we’re not going to stop there.
Here it is with sashing in between the blocks. Again, super classic. I do like how the sashing gives the stars room to breathe, plus this layout would be a lot easier due to not having to match up all those points. Win, win….
Let’s go back to our block and tweak it a little bit, shall we? Let’s change the solid center block into an Hourglass.
Here are the blocks set side to side. I find it interesting that I’m not seeing the stars so much now, but rather, all the triangles seem to jump out at me now. And I see “V” shapes, too. Huh.
Let’s tweak the block again by adding Half Square Triangles (HSTs) in the 4 corners.
Okay, now let’s set the blocks side by side in a quilt. Wow! There is so much more movement – almost to the point of being distracting. Really cool, though.
Let’s add a 3rd color to the blocks now.
Here is the same layout as above, but with the added 3rd color. It looks totally different and not as dizzying.
What if we add sashing again? Cool – we now have a Shoofly block where the sashing square meets the blue HSTs – this adds a lot of interest to the design. Liking this, but not quite there yet. Let’s keep tweaking.
I think the blocks look a bit heavy, so I’m going to lighten them up a bit by changing the inner blue triangles back to white. Yep, liking this one more.
It’s a bit too vertical for me, though, so let me make one more tweak by alternating the direction of the blocks. Yes, I think that does it. This one’s a wrap!
But wait – I’m not done yet. I’m having way too much fun to stop now. Let’s go back to our block and tweak it a bit more by adding blue triangles on the sides only.
Here’s our updated block set side to side in a quilt. You totally lose the star block, don’t you? I like the horizontal repetition of the triangles, too.
Let’s add fabric! Here it is using the QT fabrics from American Tapestry again. Love it, yet……
One more tweak……let’s rotate every other block. Yup, that’s the one. Finished. Great movement – I can’t even see the stars now, can you?
Do you remember where we started? A classic 2 color Sawtooth Star.
YAY! This has been another fun quilt design adventure! Sew glad you came along.
If you’ve missed any posts in our Quilt Design Series so far, you can catch up below:
Are you ready to play with another quilt block? Yippee! Me too. This really is SEW much fun for me to do and I think it’s also helping me to think more “outside the box.” I’ve definitely noticed more designs popping into my head lately. 🙂
If you’ve missed our Quilt Design Series so far, you can catch up:
I was a little disappointed that no one was brave enough to suggest a quilt block in the comments on last week’s blog post. Please consider letting me know what your favorite block is or another block suggestion to design with as I’m planning to do this mini series on designing for a few more weeks. Do you really want me to have all the fun of picking out all the blocks?
So I asked my quilty pal, Mary Lee (Hey Mary Lee!) for a block suggestion. She thought for a few seconds and then suggested either Churn Dash or Courthouse Steps. I thought both were good options. Churn Dash (image 1, below) is another Nine Patch variation while Courthouse Steps (image 2, below) is a variation of a traditional Log Cabin block. Because we’ve already done 2 Nine Patch blocks, I zoomed in on her Courthouse Steps suggestion and immediately began to wonder what we could do with it.
Image 1 – Churn Dash block, also known as Hole in the Barn Door and Monkey Wrench
Image 2 – Courthouse Steps block
Homework!
Since I’m going to focus on the Courthouse Steps block today, I’m assigning all of you readers “homework” — see what you can do with the Churn Dash block (image 1, above).
You can share your “homework” on our Facebook Page, in the comments (although I’m not sure if you can upload images), or you can email them to me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com.
I’d love to share your ideas on next week’s blog or upcoming posts if we have a big response. I hope you will take a little time and play – er, I mean design a quilt – along with me. Hand drawn, EQ, or Adobe images are great, please use a .jpg or .pdf format atat no more than 300 dpi.
Who knows????? There might even be a prize or 2…. US and International friends can play along, so go get started – right after you finish reading this post, that is.
The Courthouse Steps Block
Let’s learn a bit about the Courthouse Steps block. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a variation of a Log Cabin block. According to Barbara Brackman in the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, it was originally called White House Steps and appeared in print circa 1890 in the first Ladies’ Art Company catalog, which included 272 patterns. White House Steps was block #221. Of course, that doesn’t mean the block just suddenly appeared in the 1890’s. rather, that was the first known version in print. Quilters may have been making the block much sooner than the 1890’s.
White House Steps block
Courthouse Steps block
The Courthouse Steps block we are familiar with today uses color a bit differently than the White House Steps version, above. Interestingly enough, “Courthouse Steps” isn’t even mentioned in Barbara Brackman’s book. I wonder if it’s a regional term used for the block? Does anyone know this block by another name? Just curious. I did find the block in Electric Quilt 8 software (which is based on Barbara Brackman’s book), but it is considered a foundation pieced block and does not include any historical information.
Doing a quick Internet search, I discovered a post on Suzy Quilts about Courthouse Steps blocks with a touch of history and wonderful examples of Gee’s Bend quilts. Check it out HERE.
Alright! Ready to get designing???
The Courthouse Steps Block
So, here’s our block again. Take a good look at it – what do you see? A central square with rectangles radiating from the center square both horizontally and vertically. That’s it! Simple, but very effective, very geometric, and very graphic.
Courthouse Steps block
Let’s put the blocks side by side with all of the blocks going the same direction. Okay, this is fun. And it would make an awesome scrappy quilt, wouldn’t it?
Let’s turn the blocks sideways and see if we get something different. Pretty much the same thing, just different direction.
Let’s alternate every other block next. Huh. Better. Definitely more movement in this one, wouldn’t you agree? I almost detect a bit of a curvy look happening, which is interesting with a square block.
Now I think I’d like to see what happens when I group the blocks in 4’s. That’s interesting.
Let’s add fabric to see what happens, shall we? I’m using Lori Holt’s warm and homey Riley Blake collection, Autumn. I can almost smell the apple pie…..
I want to tweak the blocks one more time. In this example, I turned alternating rows which then gave me an interesting boxed effect in rows 2 and 4.
Whoah! Stop the bus! Here was the basic idea behind my VRD Rose Card pattern, Boxed In (hence the name), although it’s not totally the same. I wasn’t even thinking about any of our VRD patterns when playing with Courthouse Steps, but – there it is. LOL!
Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE
Okay, let’s go back to our Courthouse Steps block and tweak it a little bit by changing the width of some of the rectangles. I left the side rectangles the same, but I made the top and bottom rectangles narrower.
Let’s use the first setting from above to see how the blocks plays in a design. I really think this looks pretty cool and it reminds me of paper lanterns.
Let’s tweak the color a little bit. Again, I’m using a couple prints from Lori Holt’s Autumn collection. WOW! What a mod yet classic 2 color quilt! Love it!
Cool! Check out this block arrangement! It’s the same layout as our previous 2nd design, above.
Hmmm. I just don’t feel that’s it totally complete yet, so let’s add another fabric to see what happens. In this example, I’m using some lovely Hoffman 1895 Watercolors batiks. Love it!
Just….one….more….tweak. As you can see, designing a quilt can get kind of addicting. Yup. But, I think you’ll agree with me that this is the final design. I changed the block directions a bit, changed the black centers to grey, changed the black background to a light grey and added more fabrics from Hoffman.
I think it’s perfect now.
There’s not much else I can say………except I’m very satisfied with this final design. Seriously. Sometimes it takes just one more try to get where you want to. And I’m not just talking about quilt design, you know.
What would you do to tweak the Courthouse Steps block to create your own design?
Don’t forget to do your homework for next Thursday! I’ll see what I can find in the prize department while you play with the Churn Dash quilt block to see what you can come up with.
What a fun blog post last week! It was great to share a little bit about my quilt design process with you. It was such fun, we’re doing it again this week, but with a different quilt block.
Before even starting this post, though, I must admit I cheated a bit and began playing with this week’s quilt block. Let me tell you – it never fails to amaze me how a simple block can create such amazing designs.
According to Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, this specific Spool block appeared in the book, Polly Prindle’s Book of American Patchwork Quilts by Alice Gammell in 1973. Of course, it wasn’t really a new block in 1973, but this simplified Nine Patch version appeared in Polly Prindle’s. Previous versions included set-in seams as well as 4 small Spools in a single quilt block. Today, though, we’re going to start with Polly Prindle’s version.
As you can see, our Spool Block is a Nine Patch block with a 3×3 layout. Of course, we’ve added some Half Square Triangles (HSTs) to create the Spool shape.
Time to Play!
The first thing we’re going to do is to simply our Spool block by using flippy corners instead of HSTs for the top and bottom of the spool. This tweak would actually save time when piecing the blocks for a quilt without changing the overall design. And we all know that saving time is golden in the quiltmaking process. The tweak also cleans up the look of the block by removing some of the seams.
Let’s see what a quilt looks like using just this block, shall we? This design shows the blocks all pointing in the same direction. Hmmm. I like it, but I think we’re just getting started with the Spool block today.
Let’s try alternating the block directions. Better, but not there yet.
Next up – let’s alternate block direction by row. Better and better! I really like the play between the different block directions. Reminds me a little bit of the vertical and horizontal strips I added to last week’s classic Nine Patch block.
Let’s add some fabrics to this one. I’m using a few prints from Moda’s Acorn Hollow collection. This layout definitely has some potential. I’m not usually a big fan of 2 fabric quilts, but I am liking the crispness of the design with only the 2 fabrics.
Okay, let’s go back to our Spool block again. Instead of it being a 2 color block, let’s make it a 4 color block with a black center.
Huh. Intriguing. Let’s see how it looks in a quilt. This is the same layout as our first red/white layout above. What a difference color can make!
Now let’s alternate the block directions. This is the second red/white layout above.
I like it, but with so many colors, you kind of lose the interesting design. Let’s back off on colors a little bit by adding more neutrals. Not loving it, but I do like the diagonal thing happening.
Not quite what I was expecting. Let’s tweak the colors some more. I’m going to use red, black, white, and grey which is one of my favorite colorways when I’m trying to perfect a design. I like working with these colors because of the strong contrast. I also changed the center square to black, so I get an interesting black shape in the blocks now – kind of looks like a megaphone to me.
Let’s rearrange the blocks to see what happens. This is interesting. It has a lot of movement.
Let’s add some fabric now to see what it looks like. Here it is in 4 Hoffman batiks. I like it – it has a woven effect which keeps my eye moving over the design.
Let’s play with the block arrangement a little bit more. I think there’s another better option still out there. We just have to play a bit until we get there. Almost there.
I think it needs just one more thing tweaked. I’m going to reintroduce the 5th fabric in the block for the center squares. Yup! Got it. This is the one! A beautiful finished design! LOVE the 3-D effect. Lots of movement. Tons of interesting things going on.
Do you remember where we started? A simple Spool block.
An here’s where we ended. Still a simple Spool block, but so much more!
Isn’t quilt design a fascinating journey? For me, it’s a lot of “what if?” questions. Also, I’m not afraid to make something really ugly – I can always delete it, right? And sometimes “something ugly” just needs another tweak or 2 to become something amazing.
I hope you give designing a try. I think you’ll be surprised at how fun it it. Whether you use graph paper and a pencil or Electric Quilt 8 software, I think you can come up with something that’s truly your own, something you love.
Stay tuned next week for another fun quilt design adventure! Any suggestions on a simple quilt block you’re just dying to see turned into an interesting quilt design? Leave a comment and tell me!
Hope you are enjoying these lazy, hazy, crazy days of summertime. Me, still making my summer to-do list. Ha Ha!
We’re just going to jump right in today because I’ve got some fun stuff for you. Yippee!
First up – NEW July patterns.
NEW July VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns
I just love the first Thursday after the first Friday of every month because it means NEW VRD patterns.
Here’s the set of 5 patterns. As always, our talented VRD designers do not disappoint! You can get the print set of 5 HERE (they are also available individually as print patterns too) or you can get the digital patterns individually below:
Happy Daze features a panel (or substitute a novelty print if you wish) in a fun modern setting. Quilt kits are still available HERE, but get yours ASAP because they’re going fast.
Fondue is also a panel quilt with a very interesting and unique setting. We still have a few quilts kits left, so get ’em HERE while they last.
Snowdrop uses your favorite collection of fat quarters. This is Pat’s latest pattern in her Tim Holtz Palette patterns. You can get the kit HERE.
Ixonia is Rachelle’s latest mod quilt. It also uses fat quarters.
Willow is a super versatile pattern – use a single fabric for the centers, panel squares, or even quilt blocks! We kitted it up with the Playgrounds collection (see below), get your kit HERE.
Willow kit in Moda’s Playgrounds collection
And here’s this month’s table runner, Bubblegum. It uses a collection of fat sixths, but works equally well with leftover Jelly Roll strips or your stash.
Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE.
I know it’s summer and most of us don’t quilt as much, but I think these new patterns will inspire you. Besides, VRD patterns go together like greased lightening. Make one in a weekend or even a day.
Why not get your quilty friends together for a summer sew day? You could each have a quilt top done at the end of the day and enjoy some overdue friend time, too.
Next up – let’s play with the Nine Patch block and design a quilt together.
Let’s Design a Quilt Together: Nine Patch Blocks
Nine Patch blocks were on my mind the other day. Why? Because I was thinking about antique quilts and Nine Patch blocks are one of the oldest quilt block patterns as well as one of the most humble. Have you ever gone to see an antique quilt display or perused a book about antique quilts? If you have, I bet you’ve seen A LOT of Nine Patch quilts.
I started wondering what kind of interesting designs I could create from the historic humble Nine Patch. Then it hit me – this would be a really fun blog post idea. So here we are.
If you’re interested in designing your own quilts, there are several ways to do so.
1. Graph Paper
Graph paper, a pencil, and a calculator are often a designer’s first tools for creating one of a kind quilt designs. I started out with this, but quickly found I didn’t have the patience for figuring everything out all the time. I still draw lots of doodles with blocks or setting ideas, but these aren’t my primary design tools anymore.
And guess what?!? Even graph paper for quilting has evolved over time! There are many different options available these days for quilters such as quilter’s graph paper books. Some even include stencils and other goodies to help you in your design process, like C&T’s QuiltGenius Design Tool kit.
A design workbook with prompts and space to draw is a step up from plain old graph paper. Last year I actually created such a workbook because I got tired of losing all my little scraps of paper when I came up with a new idea. Now I can keep all of my ideas in one place.
Electric Quilt 8 software by the Electric Quilt Company is a fantastic design program! I couldn’t do what I do without it. Seriously. One of the great things about this program is all the support out there so you can learn how to use it. The EQ website offers tutorials, classes, and even fun design challenges. There are books galore available to teach you all the ins and outs of the program. And EQ is always coming up with new add-ons to enhance your design capabilities.
So now we’ve talked about the 3 top ways to design quilts, let’s play with Nine Patches using EQ8, of course!
Here is our humble Nine Patch block. It uses 9 squares all the same size in a 3 square across by 3 square down layout. Easy peasy.
This block is a Nine Patch, too. Nobody ever said you had to use only 2 fabrics for a Nine Patch block. The 3 across by 3 down is what makes it a Nine Patch. And my personal philosophy is the more fabric, the better!
Time to play — er, design. To me designing is playing with blocks, colors, fabrics, shapes. I ask myself a lot of “What if?” questions as I go along.
What happens if we make our Nine Patch block rectangular instead of square?
It’s still a Nine Patch, only it’s elongated. Let’s see what this block looks like in a quilt.
Hmmm. It doesn’t really do anything for me, but it would make a nice simple scrap quilt, wouldn’t it? Let’s add some sashing.
Okay, I’m liking this one better. Now I can see the individual blocks. But it’s still basically a decent scrap quilt. Let’s try taking away the sashing and adding plain alternate blocks instead.
This one’s okay, too, but it just doesn’t quite do it for me, either. I could use a cool novelty for the alternate blocks and use coordinating fabrics in the Nine Patch blocks. Let’s try that.
Here is our design using Moda’s collection Acorn Hollow. I like it, but something is still missing. What do you think we need?
Let’s go back to our elongated Nine Patch block and try splitting some of the rectangles into 2 pieces so we can add more fabric.
Okay, that’s interesting, but now I think I want to split the other 4 patches horizontally to add movement.
Yay! Now we’re getting somewhere. I like the look of our Elongated Rainbow Nine Patch block. Like I said, designing is all about playing and exploring. Ask those “What If?” questions and you’ll be surprised where they will take you in your designing.
Let’s try our block in a quilt setting now.
Now that is starting to look like something. I really love the diagonal thing going on with the black rectangles. Hmmm. Let’s keep going. It still needs tweaking.
With a little flip flopping and switcheroo, I discovered this layout. I am loving the elongated Four Patches in black and white that showed up when alternating blocks were turned upside down. What are your thoughts on this design?
Let’s try it in real fabric this time.
LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I am using a selection of Hoffman’s 1895 Watercolors batiks in pink and grey with solid black and white here. I added the solid black binding to frame everything nicely as well as accent the black in the blocks. Now it’s a finished design. And it started with a humble little Nine Patch block.
Well, that’s it for me today. I hope you enjoyed coming along on a quilt design adventure with me. After showing you how much fun I have designing a quilt, I thought maybe this would make a fun new series for the summer. What do you think? Would you like to see more of this in maybe a 4 or 5 part series using different quilt blocks as the inspiration? Any suggestions on blocks you’d like to see (think simple and pieced, though)?
See you next week, right here at Villa Rose Quilts.
Hard to believe it’s July already and the July 4th holiday is tomorrow. It’s not every year that the holiday falls on a Friday, so I see a 3 day weekend ahead for many of you. What are your plans for the holiday weekend? Me, I plan to take in some fireworks and maybe eat some fab picnic foods. Yum, yum, yummy!
Happy Independence Day!
July 4th with Quilts
In celebration of Independence Day, I have a few fun quilty things to share with you today! Woohoo!
So I wanted to feature our 12 Quilts of Valor Pattern Collection on the blog. A lot of you probably already have the 12 QOV collection among your VRD patterns, but for those of you who are new to VRD or haven’t added the collection yet, let me tell you about this great collection of patterns.
The collection includes 12 patterns sized perfectly for your Quilts of Valor (QOV) projects – no more trying to figure out if a pattern is the right size for a QOV. You will find patterns that use yardage, fat quarters, 5″ squares, and panels (4 panel quilts in the collection and 1 of them uses horizontal panels). Finally, several of our talented VRD designers have patterns in the collection so you get a nice variety of styles in this collection. And of course, all of the patterns are fast, fun, and quickly done!
Almost forgot to mention – shipping is free on patterns on the VRD website, regardless of how many print patterns (or collections) you order!
At this time, the collection is only available in print format, but if you prefer our digital patterns or are an international friend, the patterns are also available as individual downloads. Please note that the download pattern covers will be different from the print pattern collection covers.
Last year on the blog for the 4th of July, I created a curated a Red, White and Blue Pattern list. You can find it HERE.
I hope your July 4th holiday is filled with new memories, American pride, picnic food, and quilts!
Dolls and Quilts
I realize this section of the blog isn’t really connected to the 4th of July at all, but I just had to tell you about my very first Sasha Doll Festival. Oh! I’m wrong – I just realized the theme for this year’s Festival was “Sasha Explores the USA” so it is kind of related to the 4th of July after all.
This past weekend I had the absolute pleasure of attending my very first Sasha Doll Festival. It was held in Columbus, Ohio which made the drive doable for me. Let me tell you though, last Thursday when I was on my way to the hotel/conference center where the Festival was being held, I kept running in and out of severe weather. There were times when I couldn’t seen anything at all due to the deluge and the steam coming off the road (the temps were in the 90s). It was kind of scary as this was my first longer road trip alone, but I followed the big trucks in front of me and everything went okay.
I got to the hotel/conference center safely, although it did take me an extra couple hours. I must admit I missed one exit and had to drive back around to catch the exit again. Thank goodness for my GPS.
Maybe you’ve never heard of Sasha dolls. Sasha dolls were created by Swiss doll artist Sasha Morgenthaler. She created personally created dolls in her studio from the 1940’s to the 1970’s (these surviving dolls are called studio dolls). She also taught classes to others about her techniques and the dolls created during those classes are called course dolls today. In the mid 1960’s, Sasha worked with the German doll company Gotz to manufacture vinyl play dolls based on her studio dolls. She wanted children to have quality dolls at an affordable price. Gotz made Sasha Serie (series) dolls from 1965-1969. A company in England also began making Sasha dolls in 1966 and continued until 1986. Then, Gotz made Sasha dolls once again from 1995-2001.
For more information about Sasha the artist and her dolls, you can go HERE.
I am a relatively new collector and enthusiast, although I saw my first Sasha doll as a child at my local public library. The library had a very special toy collection and you could check out the toys just like books when I was a child. They had Sasha dolls in the collection and I was so in love with the blond girl doll in the blue gingham dress (she would have looked something like this, below). Over the years I saw Sasha dolls here and there in doll clothes books or on the Internet. A couple years ago, I wondered if I could find Sasha dolls for sale online. And I did. My modest collection now includes 11 girls, 10 babies, and 7 boys.
Image from eBay
Here are 3 of the 10 dolls I took with me to the Festival. All 3 dolls are from the English production. Eden (1968) is on the left, Penny (1975-1980) is in the middle, and Annabelle (1969) is on the right.
I just love that the dolls are so realistic looking and no two are alike. They are lovely to pose and to dress (and make clothes for!), and each one seems to have their own personality.
It was an amazing Festival (of course being that it was my first one, I don’t have anything to compare it to). I met so many lovely people! I went to the Festival hoping to find some Sasha people in my own area, and I did! I even met Gina (Hi Gina!) and discovered not only did she live within 2 hours of me, but we actually know some of the same people. Crazy, isn’t it???
At this point, you might be wondering how Dolls and Quilts go hand in hand? Doll Quilts, of course!
As a gift to you, I am sharing a sweet and simple little doll quilt pattern. Make it for yourself, a child, or even another doll lover.
Sweet and Simple Doll Quilt
By Tricia Maloney
18″ x 23″
Fabric
20 – 5″ Charm Squares or 20 assorted scraps at least 5″ square
½ yd for backing
20″ x 25″ thin batting or flannel
¼ yd binding
Cut
20 – 5″ squares
20″ x 25″ for quilt back
3 – 2″ or 2 1/4″ width of fabric strips for binding
Sew
Sew 4 assorted 5″ squares together into a row. Make 5 rows.
Sew the rows together.
Finish
Layer your quilt top, batting, and backing.
Quilt as desired.
Bind your quilt.
Don’t forget your label!
If you’d like to download and print my Sweet and Simple Doll Quilt pattern, you can find the PDF below:
WHEW! If you’re like me, you are having a heatwave right now. 90’s every day. It even hit 100 on the thermometer on Monday! YIKES! I’m sooooo not ready for these temps. It’s like we went straight from 50’s to 90’s in a couple weeks.
90’s are definitely not normal for this time of year here in northwestern Pennsylvania. AND we have high humidity to go with the heat which makes me want to just melt into a puddle on the ground every time I have to step outside. I literally had to scramble on Sunday to get the window AC units in, but we’re all good now. I just don’t want to go outside anymore.
I’m melting into a puddle………!!!!
Luckily my dungeon studio is still cool enough (sadly, it is not air conditioned) to work in comfortably. I have several fans on to keep the air moving, but when the heat finally infiltrates my space, it’ll get quite uncomfortable. That usually isn’t until August and September, though, but we’ll see what summer brings this year. Northwestern Pennsylvania is an interesting place to live – record amounts of snow and cold in the winter, a wet and cold spring, then – POOF! – record high temps in June. Only the strong survive……..
I finally got a little quality time with my sewing machine this week so I decided to put together a new tutorial for you. Augustina is a such great project for summer!
Of course Augustina is fast and fun – it’s a VRD pattern, but it’s also not so big that you feel like you’re wrestling an alligator while your body is dripping with sweat. I promise you, this quilt really is quick – I made the top in a couple hours and that included both cutting and photographing my step-outs for the tutorial. It’s a very satisfying afternoon project.
VRD Augustina Quilt Tutorial
Augustina is a great sized quilt for a small throw or a juvenile quilt. And this is a pattern you are going to turn to over and over again for a beautiful quilt with little effort, yet it looks like a million bucks (sorry, it’s late and I couldn’t think of another phrase to use). So don’t forget to get your own Augustina pattern if you don’t have it yet.
The first thing we need to do, of course, is round up our fabrics. Augustina is a fat quarter project, so you can march right over to your stash and find some coordinating fat quarters or you can use this project as an excuse to visit your local quilt shop to buy new fabric. Yeah, I know, we quilters really don’t need an excuse, but it is handy to have one anyway, isn’t it?
For this tutorial, I am using Flower Shoppe fabrics from our quilty friends over at Hoffman Fabrics. The flower fabrics are all amazing Hoffman digital prints – have you seen these in person yet? The colors are so bright and clear – I feel like I could pick these flowers right off the fabric. We’ve paired a few Hoffman batiks to balance out the gorgeous flower prints.
Please remember when using digital prints, that they do not react exactly the same as regular quilting cottons. Always start with a new needle in your machine so you are not pulling threads when sewing as well as a new rotary cutting blade so you are cutting cleanly through the fabric instead of sawing at it, which can damage the fibers.
Next up…..cutting.
SHHHHH! The secret of this quilt is that the pieces are big. Big pieces mean you don’t have to spend loads of time cutting little squares, rectangles, or triangles. Big pieces are a huge time saver! Big pieces also mean you can use bigger prints (when you use big prints in small pieces, the design gets all chopped up and you tend to lose what you loved about the print to begin with). Yay! Let’s GO BIG!
In the photos, below, we’re cutting our accent fabric into strips and then into rectangles.
Below, we’re cutting our FQs into strips and then into 2 different sized rectangles.
VIOLA! Cutting done. Easy peasy. Here’s all the pieces we need to make Augustina.
Before we can sew Augustina together, we have to lay out our fabrics. I’m going to put them up on my handy dandy flannel board which consists of a flannel-backed table cloth clamped to the tops of my fabric storage unit doors. As I’ve mentioned before, this idea came from my pal, Mary Lee. Kudos to you, Mary Lee! It’s a great option if you don’t have a spare wall to put up a more permanent quilt wall solution. I can simply take it down when I need access to my yardage stash. I’ve actually had this tablecloth for years now, so it’s even an economical option.
Hmmm……I think I need to move some fabrics around.
After several switcharoos, I think I’m happy with the layout now.
Let’s sew!
This quilt is sewn together in vertical rows. I took my time, only taking one vertical row off of my board at a time. I worked from the top down to sew the pieces together. It doesn’t matter whether you sew your strips top down or bottom up, just be consistent with all of your rows or else you might get your fabrics out of kilter.
Okay, all the fabrics are now sewn into vertical rows.
Now I’m going to sew the vertical rows together into pairs. As this quilt has an odd number of rows, the last row will have to hang out all by itself for a while.
Next, I’m going to sew the first 2 pairs together into a foursome. Then I’ll sew the third pair and the last row together into a trio.
One last seam to sew the 2 sections together and the Augustina top will be finished. Fast as can be! There isn’t a lot of matching seams, but you do want to make sure your accent pieces are relatively even-looking across the quilt.
And here it is! Our completed Augustina quilt top.
Although it was hot, I decided to take Augustina outside for a glamour photo. Sigh…….it was a little breezy out and I couldn’t get a photo with it hanging nicely for you. Bummer. But I do love how it looks surrounded by all the green – the flowers look like they are about to burst right off the quilt! That’s digital fabric for you – the number of colors that can be printed on fabric is phenomenal and creates stunning designs.
And that’s it! Finito! Next I need to layer, quilt, and bind it…….someday, anyway.
If you’re looking for another great summer quilt pattern, check out the Jubilee tutorial from a few weeks ago. It’s also a super go-to project.
That’s it for me today, gotta go have me some summer……..in the air conditioning. LOL!
Villa Rosa Quilts 