One Colour Challenge Blocks

More often than not I teach a class and the samples used for demo purposes build up. I don’t count them on my Quilts Under Construction list either. That is, I don’t count them until I am sure they are going to actually be turned into a quilt top and not remain as samples. Most things eventually get on the list. Then there are the times I go from class sample to desired quilt top just one block in.

That’s what happened with these blocks.

One Colour Challenge has been one of the classes I taught this past year for the online environment. It is a lesson in colour and value, as well as half square triangle construction and, if time allows, block assembly. In the very first class I taught I fell in love with the block I made. Each time I taught the class I had fun playing along with the students making more blocks. When I started making blocks on my own time I knew it was destined to be a quilt top.

Now my plan is to make 25 blocks. This will give me an 80” x 80” quilt top. We all know how I love bigger quilts, even when playing. I’ve even made a list of colours to explore to get me up to 25 unique blocks. It’s going to be bold and awesome! I would love to use each fabric only once, but I’m not sure even my stash is deep enough!

In the class we make 16 HSTs. There are a lot of different blocks you can make with 16 HSTs. In prepping for the class I went through a number of quilt block books looking for options. That’s how I found the one I went with but this option above was very tempting too. Either way, you get amazing secondary patterns between the light and dark sections. So many possibilities!

This, indeed, is the best part about playing. A few basic rules to the game but then infinite possibilities!

Sunny Day Stars

Sunny Day Stars

72” x 72”

This was one of the oldest quilts from the Quilts Under Construction list. I looked back and realized I started it in 2007! It began as a free Block of the Month called Celestial Migraine by Planet Patchwork. Shortly after the year it ran the whole thing disappeared. (Planet Patchwork also appears to be no more.) I think I made 3/12 blocks. I do remember that the final quilt was quite lovely in a seemingly random layout with a lot of negative space, mimicking stars in the night sky.

Over the years I would make another star block or two when I was craving some precision piecing. Lucky for me there are a tonne of traditional, free star block patterns. A few modern ones too. Then late last summer I got it in my head to actually finish this quilt. Well, at least the top! So I set out to make stars.

Each star block is repeated 3 times, for a total of 12 different star patterns. Each one, however, has a different combination of fabrics. Orange, gold, green, grey, beige, and white. In truth, it is a rather spring coloured quilt. But I finished the top during a September snow storm and finished the whole thing in the summer thunder storms. Still all about the sunshine!

It was a lot of fun to play with fabric on this quilt. Some stars pop, others recede. By playing with the contrast between the stars and the background, or the different components of the design I could change the entire look. The key was making sure not one star was too bossy.

The quilt back started with the scraps from making the last of the stars. Little bits and leftover triangles sewn together for fun. I used that as the centre and raided my stash for the rest. That large floral just happens to go with the first stars I made years ago. All of them are from a collection by Heather Bailly. The rest was just stuff I had around to make it work.

Quilting inspiration came from Dara Tomasson and her book, Walk, Jog, Run. She shared a ribbon quilting pattern - essentially a large meander that you echo to look like a ribbon. It was perfect for this. I quilted the whole thing in a peach Aurifil 50W.

I won’t lie, I wanted a green binding. Alas, there was not enough of the right greens in my stash and these are Covid times. No in person shopping. Then I found the grey and white stripe hiding on the cutting table. Perfection!

This quilt is already in it’s new home. As I was finishing the quilt top last fall I decided it would eventually go to a friend of mine. I wanted to spoil her with something just for her. Giving quilty gifts is the best!