February doodles

This month’s doodle features a truly traditional block – Pine Tree. Lots of triangles in this one but a stunningly graphic block that is well worth the effort. This is the default block from the EQ Library –

We weren’t too sure about those outer strips so the first change we made blended them in to the background –

We followed this with some minor adjustments – first one being to change the whole background value, then a more “realistic” background.

Directional blocks such as Pine Tree present their own challenges when it comes to setting into a quilt. Scroll through the selection of options that we came up with –

You can download a free quilt colouring sheet here as a start for your own Pine Tree project.

And tomorrow – if you feel you would like to actually make the block or a quilt – you can download the cutting instructions for both 6 inch and 12 inch versions from our sister site Meadowside Designs.

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New Year, new Doodles

Here’s to a year filled with stitching! and presenting our first Doodles of 2023. The block from the EQ Library is titled Stars & Lilies and this is the default colouring –

Inevitably, we changed the colouring –

and then made further changes –

Instead of exploring changes to the Star & Lilies block any further than this we went straight on to basic quilt settings –

And then a sudden switch to almost monochrome –

By this point we were starting to think of tiled floors and were rummaging through our stashes so we decided to call it a day. But if you want to play with this block and quilt then colouring sheets, rotary cutting measurements and templates for 12 inch blocks are here!

August Doodles

We seem to be on a run of improbably-named blocks for our Doodles and this month is no exception – Sunburst & Mills is the title shown in the EQ8 Library for our featured block. Here’s the default colouring –

Piecing precision called for with this arrangement of diamonds and Flying Geese units but we think it’s well worth the challenge!

First, change the palette to blues –

On to reviewing some straight quilt setting options for the above variations starting with the default block –

No “on point” version this month but you can download a pdf of a block to colour, rotary cutting measurements and templates here. Happy stitching!

A weekend of quilting

Sometimes it’s hard to say “No” – and when our friend Judi Mendelssohn asked us to teach a weekend on basics of machine quilting and design we gulped and said “Yes”. So glad we did – the venue was great, the students were great and we had a most enjoyable time working our way through how to machine quilt, where to machine quilt and what to machine quilt. We had such a good time that we forgot to take lots of photos but here are just a couple from Day One when everyone was experimenting with their first samples –

July Doodles

We love Nine Patch blocks – and we love stars (as you may have gathered from many of our previous Doodlings. So what could be better than a Nine Patch Star? Here’s a Nine Patch Star straight from the EQ8 Library –

And here are some of our variations, changes and general twiddlings to this block – regular Doodle readers will be well-versed in some of the processes.

And on to setting blocks together into quilts – which one is your favourite?

It’s fascinating to see how different a block can look just by turning it on point! You can download a block to colour, rotary cutting measurements and templates for Nine Patch Star here.

Random is not easy

Quite some time ago we ran a series of Scrappy Sunday posts which stirred a lot of interest, and one of the recurring themes we discussed at HQ was how challenging it was for so many of us to work in a truly scrappy or random style. Barbara was reminded of these conversations when she decided to use up some hexagons left over from another project. The aim of using up the hexagons was to make a piece of fabric that could then be used to make a bag or some such useful object. This was as random an arrangement as could be managed! –

Hexagons still have a somewhat retro feel for us – they remind us very much of our start in patchwork back in the dim and distant past. How much has changed since we began!!

Sorting

We seem to spend countless hours sorting, sifting and moving things from one place to another in our workspace. Barbara also moves from one workspace to another at regular intervals which is not always helpful – you can bet that there’s always something left behind or forgotten even with copious lists. Sorting and sifting in the Overseas Office brought a set of blocks to the surface which are still waiting to be turned “into something”. One of the blocks is a version of the Temple Court block which we have previously featured in classes and also here in our EQ Doodles –

And then there was a set of blocks from a Chris&Barbara class and also one of our Mystery Monday series –

These blocks have now made their way by a very circuitous route over to Chris who may well “do something” with them even if it’s only re-sorting them into the system at C&B Towers.

It might be time to stop sorting and start progressing and finishing things!

June Doodles

The block we’ve chosen for Doodling in June has the charming name of Dogtooth Violet. However we are stumped for seeing any resemblance of a flower in the block! Perhaps we’re missing something?

This is the block as it appears in the EQ8 Library –

We thought it would be a good idea to take a colour cue from the name of the block and change to a more appropriate palette –

This block is actually a Sawtooth Star (one of our all-time favourites) turned on point with fancy corners added. Lots of scope and lots of options! Here are some basic straight quilt settings of the block variations above and we’ve added in an on-point setting just for good measure.

A colouring page and other assorted goodies can be downloaded here. Enjoy your violets!

May Doodles

We’ve chosen a favourite traditional block to feature in our Doodles for May – Martha Washington Star. We’ve been looking at a number of red and white quilts in the picture vaults of C&B Towers and the following Doodles rather reflect that – here’s the EQ8 default colouring of the block to begin with.

Even these simple variations and colour switches can produce striking results in straight settings of the blocks – see if you can work out the various combinations.

You can download resources to make your own Martha Washington Star block(s) here.

Random again

This time our random spotlight falls on two student worktables from a Chris&Barbara class circa 2014 –

Nothing art-y or artful here, but we both enjoyed taking random shots of work in progress as we patrolled (!) the classroom and sometimes we remembered to take a “Happy Class” photo too.