Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Rectangular Block

Waterhen





I've decided to name this 9" x 15" rectangular block after Waterhen Manitoba.





Sunday, December 29, 2013

Rectangular Block

Pinawa



























I've been designing rectangular blocks and naming them after places in Manitoba.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Rectangular Block

Morden





I'm playing with rectangular blocks to see what I can come up with.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Rectangular Block

Dugald























Why do blocks have to be square? Why can't they be rectangular? I decided to design a rectangular block and see what happens.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Scrappy Quilt #6




























I still need to do something about a stash that threatens to take over the house; so I'm still designing scrappy quilts.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Scrappy Quilt #5

Crib Quilt




















Most of the scrappy quilts I designed over the last week had light backgrounds. One or two had dark backgrounds. I thought I would try one with a medium value background and make the foreground both light and dark.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Scrappy Quilt #4

Queen Size Quilt























Another scrappy quilt. This time the foreground uses light browns and the background uses dark browns.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Scrappy Quilt #3

Twin Quilt




















I'm exploring designs for scrappy quilts.

The first one four days ago had totally random color with an emphasis on value contrast. The second one two days ago was still focused on value contrast but I limited myself to greens in the foreground and light beiges in the background.

This one has light beiges in the background again. The foreground, however, uses two colors. A variety of browns that form squares and blue/purple bands connecting the squares. There is no rhyme or reason to the placement of any particular brown or blue.  As always value contrast is very important.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Scrappy Quilt #2

Lap Quilt


I've decided to design some scrappy quilts to use up odds and ends of fabrics.

This one is shown using a mix of greens in the foreground and a mix of light beiges and tans in the background.

The actually colors aren't as important as the contrast in value between the foreground and the background. The foreground needs to be dark and the background needs to be light.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Scrappy Quilt #1

Using Half-Square Triangles

 


My wife Linda and I have a large fabric stash and a small house. The two are incompatible. A lot of the stash is left over bits and pieces from various projects. The obvious solution is to make scrappy quilts. So I've decided it was time I designed some.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Swirl #5

Theresa



























I've been designing swirl blocks and giving them women's names. I decided to call this one Theresa.


I'm going to play with fabric colors and setting to seewhat happens.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Paired Blocks #27

Linda


Bernice








Linda and Bernice are blocks that I recently designed.
I thought that today I would pair the two and see what happens

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Swirl #4

Sharon



I designed this swirl block and named it Sharon.



Here are some of the ways to use it that I thought of.



Sunday, August 25, 2013

Ninepatch Pinwheel #7

Rocky Mountain House




To make a Ninepatch Pinwheel block I start with a design on a ninepatch grid. And then determine the piecing.


I pick some colors. Then I use four of the block to make a kind of pinwheel.




Then I play with fabric colors and the block setting to see what sorts of quilt designs I can discover.

Friday, August 16, 2013

Ontario Series #5

Kingston


























Kingston is another in my series of blocks named after places in Ontario. These are all paper pieced blocks because they do not use standard half square triangles.



Monday, July 29, 2013

Log Cabin

Modern Log Cabins



























You may have noticed that I like to change old blocks to make new ones. Today I'm going to experiment with a Log Cabin block.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Wonky Block Update

Pillows By Roos






















Roos Kuypers sent me this picture of two pillows that she designed and then pieced and quilted by hand. She started the design by changing the grid on a traditional Capital T block, thus making it wonky.

To see her design sketches go to my 4 April 2013 post. To see more traditional blocks made wonky this way go to My Posts by Subject in the sidebar on the right and click on Wonky Blocks at the very end. To visit Roos Kuypers' blog go here.

I get inspired when someone else gets inspired by one of my ideas and starts designing. I look forward to seeing what else Roos designs in the future.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Color Play

Jacob's Ladder




Jacob's Ladder is a traditional block I like. I've tried making it wonky. I've tried scrambling its units. I've tried cutting it into quarters and putting them back together differently. Now I'll try one more thing.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Swirl #3 A

How To Piece Bernice


Yesterday I showed you quilt designs using my Bernice block.

Today I'll show you how I would piece this block.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Swirl #3

Bernice



I designed this swirl block and named it after my wife's mother Bernice.


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Paired Blocks #26

 

Linda

 

 

 

 

 

Lorraine








Having designed these two blocks, I thought it might be interesting to see what happens when I use them together to create a quilt design.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Swirl #2 A

How To Piece Lorraine


Yesterday I showed you this block that I designed and named Lorraine.

Today I'll show you how I would piece it. (You might decide there is a better way.)

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Swirl #2

Lorraine





Two days ago I did a post that I titled Swirl #1. That title suggests that there must be more than one, so I had to go back to my graph paper and design a second swirl block.

I named this one Lorraine, for my mother.


Friday, July 5, 2013

Swirl #1 A

How To Piece Linda


Yesterday I designed this block and named it for my wife Linda.


Today I figured out how I would piece it.


Thursday, July 4, 2013

Swirl #1

Linda


























I was doodling on graph paper when I discovered this block which I decided to call Linda. It's such a fundamental design that I can't believe I've never seen it before.

I decided to play with it and see what shows up.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Paired Blocks # 19 Recap

Debra Did This























Debra of Who Said Sew ?  sewed this quilt from a design I posted way back in 11 April 2011. She even improved on my design by adding a light band in the border.

I've designed more quilts than I'll ever be able to sew. So I'm always pleased to see the result when someone sews one of my designs.

What's even more exciting is that Debra has now caught the design bug herself. She bought Quilt-Pro and is using it to design her own quilts.

It's a great feeling to be able to say not only did I sew this quilt, I designed it as well. It's very addictive.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Ontario Series #4

Mississauga



























My Ontario Series of quilts is designed using triangles that aren't half-square triangles and so have to be paper pieced. The odd shaped triangles help make the blocks more interesting.



I call this block Mississauga.


Monday, June 10, 2013

Quarter 0f Nine #16

Antique Tile


























Antique Tile is a tradional block that is made from 9 square patches. So it is a nine-patch block. If you make one and then cut it into quarters, the result is four Quarter of Nine blocks.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Ontario Series #3

Manotick












Manotick is another simple block I've designed that I would paper piece.


Monday, June 3, 2013

Alphabet

I Need Help



























I've decided to publish a pattern that features my School House pieced alphabet.

On the back cover I want to suggest different things that could be done with this quilt. One of these is to use photo transfers for the walls of the school houses.








I've never done a photo transfer and so don't have an image to fill in the blank spot.
Does anybody have a suitable image that I can use? It will be reduced to a 1/2" square.
If so, and you want to make a fellow quilter happy, email me at tuxedoparkdesign@shaw.ca

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Ontario Series #2

Collingwood
























I used non-45 degree triangles to design this paper pieced block that I call Collingwood.

When I ask what if and play with the color and setting I get results like these:

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Quilter's Connection

Four Friends



























The pattern for my Four Friends quilt is in the June issue of Quilter's Connection. And the quilt is on the cover.

This quilt is made using what I call a Quarter-of-Nine block. To see more of them go to My Posts by Subject in the sidebar on the right and click on Quarter-of-Nine.

To learn more about Quilter's Connection and find out what else is in the June issue go here.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Ontario Series #1

Toronto


























I wanted to design some blocks that featured some triangles that weren't half-square triangles. I decide they would be my Ontario series and started with this block - Toronto.


Usually my designs are pieced, but I expect this series, like this block, will be paper pieced.