In the November 2006 issue of Quilters Newsletter two of my patchwork designs were featured with construction instructions.

This multicolored quilt, which I call “Won’t Ask for Directions” was created to use up leftover 3-strip units from another project. I added a Flying Geese unit on the end to get an arrow. By circling four of these arrows around a colored center square I brought the final block shape back to a square. I sent it off to be machine quilted; I like the feathers sewn in multicolored thread against the black Kona cotton.

The second version (right) is the same design except in this version the visual emphasis is on the colored Flying Geese unit and the center square is not colored but black (so it drops out of sight). I love black and white prints and have two large boxes of them, but I did not have enough black and white prints in my stash to give as much variety as I wanted. So I did a cheap cheat: I used rubber stamps, white cotton fabric and black fabric ink to print up a couple dozen unique prints. I only needed to stamp up a 4”x6” rectangle so these printings went quickly. Another easy way to create your own unique black and white patches for use in this quilt would be to use some of the commercially available fabric sheets which are fed through your computer printer. My favorite commercial fabric sheet is the June Tailor sheets; I like the feel of the fabric and they print up really sharp. This quilt was machine quilted also in a large meander pattern.

I get ideas for quilt designs from all sorts or sources but an easy source for new designs is from fabrics. If you have a fabric you particularly like, examine it to see why you like it so much. Is it the color combinations? The pattern (geometric, floral, three-dimensional looking)?

This is a photo of one of my all time favorite fabrics. I liked this print so much I got it in every color I found it in and I have hoarded every little scrap of it. What I like about it is the pattern…it is a tessellation over a plane.

A tessellation is usually one shape that is repeated over and over and interlocks with itself to cover the entire surface. Hexagons, Clamshell and Applecore are examples of quilt patterns that are tessellations. In this fabric the Y shapes interlock with each other but also, if you look carefully, they create a secondary pattern of circles.

This fabric has a see-through quality to it; like the Y shapes are laid over a background. This is how I have approached constructing this pattern. I figured I would cut out the Y shapes, turn back the curves by basting the fabric onto a paper form, steam press them, remove the basting, then applique the shapes onto a background fabric.

This pattern was extremely difficult to draft. If I made the Y shapes too small they ended up with skinny little legs and you couldn’t see the prints in the fabrics yet if I made them proportionately larger, they looked clunky. I finally got the proportions right and as you can see above I choose green and lavender prints and laid them over a batik multicolored print.

If you would like to see the crazy pieced Victorian Trinket Tube I contributed to the Christmas issue of the CQ Newsletter, please click here.

If you would like to see some of my fabric bowls (including several pieced variations), please click here.