Color Play 1 - Everybody’s Favorite Quilt Block
One of my favorite things is to take a traditional quilt block and figure out how many different looks I can achieve by moving the fabrics and colors around. It’s particularly fun if I can come up with something that causes people to say “there’s no way that’s the same block!”. It’s the best!
Since I find this so fun. I am going to start posting some of my favorite blocks with the variations I’ve been able to find. I am going to call this series “Color Play”. If you are reading this, welcome to Color Play 1!
My first Color Play block is this beauty. This block made its first appearance in a periodical published by Vickery and Hill in Augusta, Maine between 1885 and the 1930s. It was originally called “Everybody’s Favorite”. Really? I find it a bit funny because I think some of the small pieces in the block might cause it to be nobody’s favorite, but we will see.
For this demo, I am using fabrics from a Riley Blake collection called Melody.
The original size of this block was 7”X7”. To make it more approachable, I have drawn it at 12”X12”. It is made up of three rows and each row is made of three 4” squares. With this format, here are a couple of different looks at Everybody’s Favorite.
Here’s what each of these blocks look like when put into simple quilts.
A different approach to the block….
Using 4” square segments is great if you have yardage, or even the 10” squares of a Layer Cake that you can cut to size, but I happen to love Jelly Rolls, which makes getting 4” squares impossible. However, if we re-draw this 12”X12” block and make it six rows of six 2” segments, we can now use a Jelly Roll to make the block. In addition, changing to the smaller segments opens up some additional Color Play options.
Check out just a few of the various quilts that can be made with this versatile and beautiful block! Imagine the variations if you add sashing or set the blocks on point. Try it and see what you can create!
The quilts that can come from these variations are even more unique.
