Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Magazine Vol. 6 Blog Hop!

7/2/14: This pattern is now available on Craftsy and in my Etsy shop

This post post is part of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 6 Blog Tour. Nov. 5th-9th. 

Be sure to visit their site for the complete list of participants, as well as many opportunities to win some great prizes!

If you are new to my little part of blogland, welcome! I hope you'll stay and look around a bit. :) 

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I have been about this whole process of actually being in a magazine! In the spring Carolyn contacted me about my Scrap Attack block, but since it was already all over the web she asked if I would submit a variation of it, or something new. I went with a little of both. When they sent out the pictures of the magazine covers, I definitely had a freak out moment when I noticed my block was On The COVER! My son joined me and it made me feel not so crazy since we were outside. ;)

Anyway, what a humbling and exciting experience this has been! Definitely a dream come true! (I have many of them, but this has been one of them for a long time... 6 years ago I wanted to be on the cover of a rock climbing magazine. lol. Funny how life changes directions, but to fulfill this dream non-the-less is definitely something special!) Anyway...

Here is my block:

Something Springy

I took so many cues from my Scrap Attack block in designing this, so there are a lot of similarities. But I love the freedom in creation that it gives you to make this block your own. By changing the colors, whether you base them on hue or value, or keep them all similar. How you combine blocks can give a completely different look as the block is repeated. Whether you keep it uniform, or totally scrappy, I think this is a really fun block.

I also love the freedom that comes with paper piecing, and how with some blocks, including this one, you don't always have to piece each space, but can actually combine pieces for more solid blocks. You can add variations within your quilt or project to change it up while still using the same pattern.


Here is an example of the block in repeat:

if you did all the blocks the same
But what if you did each corner the same so that as you combine them you get these points that are the same, which then would create a number of different colored wheels.

And here is an example I made where I did some normal 12" sized blocks, as the block is intended, as well as shrunk some blocks to 6" and blocked them in - using only two fabrics for each point rather than all the smaller strips. What do you think?

finished off with a border. You could do some really fun FMQ in the empty spaces.

To do the blocked in version, when following the instructions in the magazine, you would actually have one piece of fabric to cover ALL sections 1-4, then you would use one fabric for sections 5 & 7, and one fabric for 6 & 8. The lines will be just a bit different, as you will go a little bit further on the last line, but as long as you are covering the spaces, it will work! You can even continue the lines with a pen or pencil before you begin and block in the numbers to make it easier.

You would then combine 11 & 13, 12 & 14, 15 & 17, and 16 & 18, each with one fabric for each set of numbers. This would give you 4 colors total instead of the 6 as stated in the magazine.

If you have questions about this method, please feel free to ask! I'm happy to help.

I would LOVE to see what you make with this pattern! Please be sure to come back and share it, or add it to the from blank pages... flickr group. :)

Now onto the good stuff! Do you want to win a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol.6? Simply leave a comment on this post telling me what one of your dreams is. :) I will pick a winner and Quiltmaker Magazine will send you your very own copy!
I will pick a winner on Saturday Nov 10th.

Otherwise, this issue is due on newsstands and in Quilt Stores by Nov. 13th. There are SO many amazing blocks in here, you'll definitely want to check it out! Be sure to also check out the other blogs on the blog tour! You can find all the details of the magazine as well as the blog tour (and more giveaways) here.


P.s. If you've never paper pieced before, I highly suggest you try it! It's really not so scary! :) If you need a little help, I have a complete tutorial on paper piecing that I put together earlier this year. From supplies, to piecing, to finishing your block, there are about a billion photos. Feel free to check it out! and you can easily apply it to any block, not just the one I used. Hope that helps!