Easy Quilt Patterns

Quilts don't have to be hard to be good quilts. Some of the simplest patterns are wonderful designs.

Here are a few I am hoping to make:

1. X Block or Churn Dash?
An antique top I bought from Cindy Rennels in 2014. At first, I thought it's a Shoo Fly/Churn Dash. Then I thought it's really an X block or Old Italian Block, one of my favorites. It has great fabrics, the first block shows a beautiful blue fabric, a Commemorative of the Centennial--1776-1876:

Centennial Commemorative Fabric

It has only one background fabric and while that's not my normal mode, it really makes all these fabrics stand out. I will make mine just like this:

Detail showing various fabrics

The Top

2. Nine Patch Quilt--how easy can it be? This one is amazing because of the fabric/color placement. It is an Amish quilt, circa 1920. 

This photo has been making the rounds recently when Mary Elizabeth Kinch included it in her Twelve Quilts of Christmas blogs last month. I saved the photo years ago--it is still an appealing quilt to me:

3. Another antique from Julie Silber, this one looks far more complex than it is:

The photo was on a Facebook group for Vintage and Antique quilts and there were several ideas about how the quilt was made. I am eager to give it a try.

4. What could be easier than nine patches? How about one-patches, 3" finished? This antique top was bought from Cindy Rennels and it is only when you see it straight-on that the careful color placement of the patches is apparent: 

I bought it for the fabulous fabric collection it holds. Now I want to replicate it. A few detail shots:

I have made a few simple quilts over the years, most recently My Lifetime
Quilt, 100" x 100", 1.75" half square triangles, 12,800 triangles. In the three years I worked on it, I saw several antique quilts at shows or in photographs that are similar. Easy can still be amazing:

How About a Nine-Patch?

As I ponder my Next Lifetime Quilt, I am considering the simple Nine-Patch.

Here is an odd antique top I bought somewhere:

I bought it primarily as a fabric study. Here are some details:

Full of wonderful old prints, this would be an "inspiration" quilt--I cannot see myself replicating it exactly like this. I do love the different sizes of the nine-patches, but why are the tiny ones out there on the edge?

If I were to put it together block-to-block, my precision would have to be a bit better than this. How about adding a narrow sashing between blocks? That would let each block shine just a bit more. Using a variety of shirtings for sashing, or just one fabric?

My pieces would be smaller as I have lots of 2" strips leftover from the Lifetime quilt. But I do love the tiny ones too so maybe multiple sizes would be used.

Pretty simple quilt but lots to think about as I consider how I might make this my Next Lifetime Quilt.

Thoughts, quilt friends?

Let's quilt,

Barbara

Grandmother's Choice--Fini!

I managed to get my Grandmother's Choice top finished this week:

Grandmother's Choice, 74" x 74"

This is a block of the week created by Barbara Brackman, quilt historian extraordinaire, to tell the story of the fight for voting rights for women, in this country and England and Canada.  The patterns are still available here:  Grandmother's Choice.  Each week for 49 weeks there was a block pattern and a history lesson--very interesting and educational.  The colors I chose were the colors used by the English Suffragist movement--purple and green, right up my alley.

Don't know what I'll do with this top--let it rest for a while, I suppose.  Another project I can mark "done".  Yes, I'm a "topper" sometimes, more than a "quilter". 

Thought you might enjoy seeing an antique top I bought at Long Beach from Cindy Rennels.  It is not in perfect shape but is a great collection of old fabrics and the price was right.  I love how the maker add those much smaller squares on the right side.  I'll just protect this one and use it to study the old fabrics.  I might even replicate it because that's the best way to honor the maker:  "anonymous" was a woman.

 

And here's a new project I started, easy hand work I can take with me when traveling or work on at night while listening to TV--if I can keep the kittens from helping:

They are just stuck up on the design wall--as I get more done, I'll start sewing them together.  The blocks are 6" square.

Patches and Stitches--always in constant motion, unless they're asleep!

Check out Judy L's Design Wall Monday blog to see what others are doing.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara