Here is another post written 18 months ago but never posted. I have to admit I've only made 1 of these in the last 18 months, I've decided I really like color studies better. But it's still relevant. These are all pretty quick and easy and effective.
I previously did a post was about quilt patterns I won't likely ever make again. So this time I thought I'd talk about the reverse. Here are some patterns are just so fun or easy (or both) I've made them several times. A few of these I've posted before but felt they should be included in this post again, sort of an I Spy Hall of Fame.
Disappearing 9 patch - this pattern is very basic and easy but the secondary pattern is somewhat of a surprise. I've made 3 of these though 2 of them were in black so I've only shown 2 here.
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| Disappearing 9 Patch |
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| Disappearing 9 Patch |
Woven strips - This patterns is a good way to use up some of those fussy cut left overs that weren't quite 4.5". It uses 4.5" x 3.0" cut rectangles with 1.25" side strips. One thing I learned in this quilt is that 1/4" seam is very important or it won't go together easily. The last version I arranged the rectangles in groups of 2 and by value and color to give it some additional organization. I like the result. I've made this one 4 times, one in lilac, one in hot pink, one in black, and one in blue.
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| Pink and Purple Woven |
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| Woven Graduations |
Bricks and Stepping Stones. This pattern by Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.com is super easy. 4 Patches are one of my favorites to sew. They go together very easily but are very forgiving if your 1/4" seam isn't perfect. The first of these I was using up some swap fabrics that were oversized. The 2nd one I used my standard 4.5" precuts. Combined with strip sewn 4 patches it went together very fast.
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| Bricks and Stepping Stones |
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| Bricks and Stepping Stones |
Leaning Stars or trellis pattern uses the same block. It starts with a standard 4.5" square, then add a small triangle on alternating corners. Depending on the color of the triangle and the arrangement of the block, the secondary pattern changes dramatically. The only "downside" to this block is all the tiny triangles left over that I feel guilty about tossing. I'm still trying to use them all up - my tiny Triangle quilt is still growing.
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| Orange Leaning Stars |
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| Trellis |
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| All About Me |
All About Me by Attkinson Designs is a great pattern that works well with large print novelties. The repeating colors add unity to the overall design. Another nice thing about this pattern is you aren't limited by the background color. Normally if the background color is white, I can't use white novelties or the same with black. With the various colored frames, you can mix in every color. I've made this one twice and it's on my "need to make that again" list. Since the last time I made it I've gotten much better at that 1/4" seam, I think it will go together better now. I remember I had to ease or stretch in several places to fit the pieces together.
Frugal Patch by Quilterscache.com is a wonderful way to use up piano keys. This is another example of a pattern I modified to work better with novelties. Instead of the standard square in a square that Marcia Hohn's instructions indicate, I changed it to a 9 patch on point so that I could have 1 full light colored novelty square in the center. I made two of these several years ago, then two more again recently. I used lots of starch and pinned when sewing those little setting triangles and I'm proud to say I didn't lose any points/corners in the most recent versions. The pink one below was a quick donation quilt, using up some of the pink and purple piano keys left over from another quilt.
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| Frugal Patch |
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| Frugal Patch |
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| Frugal Patch |
The Shadowed Squares pattern is always a big hit. I wrote some instructions for this one to utilize strip sewing on the sashing/shadows that makes this one super simple to sew. The second version of this I substituted small half square triangle on the corners which makes the blocks appear 3-D, but you can't use the strip piecing so it takes a little longer to piece. I do love the optical illusions. I've made this one 4 times (plus the T-shirt quilt made recently which turned out great).
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| Shadowed Squares |
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| Shadowed Squares |
Since I had a specific post about Attic Windows I won't show those again, but variations on attic window always work great with novelties. I don't tend to repeat patterns as much as I used to, mostly because I keep getting ideas for new patterns to try. But these are some of my favorites for many reasons. They work well with novelties and they are straight forward to construct.
