When I started this blog, I’d planned to do some posts for a single block and some for a “series” of blocks (it sounds so arty, having a series of creative works). The problem is that, photo-wise, four is the logical number for a series (the photo can show a 2×2 grid of blocks), but four blocks takes me over a month to do.
As I work on this never-ending set of 4 blocks (the last one has a whopping 41 pieces!), I’m rethinking my series plan. It’s not like I don’t have plenty to talk about for each of the individual blocks. Why can’t I have an arty series of creative works that spans multiple posts? I think this may be my last multi-block post.
The intent of this particular block series was to show how versatile a basic nine-patch block really is. All four of these are nine-patch blocks at heart (well, the last one is a nine-patch diamond inside of a larger square, and is also clearly unfinished, but still). Even though they’re essentially the same block, they look completely different.
The first block uses triangles in some of the squares to give a star effect, plus has a border around the edge of the nine-patch. It was a challenge not to stretch all those little triangle pieces out of shape while stitching them together.
The second block uses appliqué to change the look of the nine-patch; the center square becomes almost (but not quite) a circle. This was another chance for me to try out my newfound reverse appliqué skills.
The third block uses adjacent pieces of matching fabric to totally change the “shape” of the block. The finished design looks totally different from a black and white drawing of the block. Without color, the plain corner squares recede into the background and the plus shape made by the other squares is emphasized. When the red fabric spans parts of multiple squares, a new hashtag shape becomes more prominent.
Three simple sets of nine squares – three totally different looks.
Now I’m imagining a nine-patch quilt where every single nine-patch block is slightly different. When you look at it from a distance the blocks all look uniform, but when you get close, no one block is exactly like any other. I could do the quilt in pale blues and whites, and make some kind of allusion to snowflakes.
Now I’m trying not to fall down this rabbit hole of daydreaming about future quilt projects, and instead focus on the task at hand.
The fourth block in this series, as mentioned, is a nine-patch rotated to a diamond shape and set into a square. This is by far the most challenging block of the series – I can’t believe it is marked Intermediate instead of Advanced … so many tiny pieces! It makes me apprehensive about trying my first Advanced block, if this is just Intermediate.
As you can see from the picture, I’ve sewn together four of the nine patches, but those took me quite a while, and I don’t anticipate the rest of the block going much faster. So, I’ve made the executive decision to save it for the next post.
This way I’ll build all kinds of suspense about this fourth block … what it looks like, how it will turn out. You’ve got to leave your readers wanting more, right?