Mod Mod QAL
Chevrons for MOD MOD QAL
I’ll make queen sized. Blocks will be made of scraps in complementary colors. I suppose it will be pretty wild when all is said and done.
Cathy L in IA
Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting
http://saneandcrazy.blogspot.com/
Playing with 2013 blocks
Like Sophie, I chose red and white for my 2013 sampler. Since it’s a holiday weekend I got to go to my local quilt shop and play around with a layout. There are about 5 blocks that don’t make it into this layout and 2 others that veered too far from the red/white screen.
Like an idiot I forgot to look at the red & white exhibit app for ideas first, so I’ll keep playing.
Blocks for Sophie’s Samplers
It’s not very interesting … yet, but here are my double chevron blocks for the two Mod-mod samplers I’ll be making.
The six gray blocks will be used in a Full/Queen size quilt, combined with more gray, aqua, pink and yellow fabrics.
The blue chevrons (with light blue backgrounds) will be used in a throw, combined with fabrics in whatever colors are next in the rainbow scrap challenge. If you remember the scrappy blue double chevron blocks I shared early (and a plan to use them in a smaller quilt) were repurposed into a large 10 by 15-inch scrappy oak leaf block when my vision for the rainbow scrappy quilt changed.
FYI, I added the link to the Mod-mod QAL post with the introduction and January info to the at-a-glance page to make it easy to find.
I also tried to fix the code in that post for adding the badge to your blog. After too many attempts, I almost had it working perfectly, then completely broke it again. For whatever reason, what looks like the same code works on my blog. Go figure. I’ll let you know when (if?) I finally figure it out.
UPDATE
Yay! CathyC sent me to a tool that gets it right. Thanks, Cathy.
It’s a Mod-Mod Quilt-Along
I have created a random-ish layout using this year’s blocks in a straight setting with no sashing or borders, using the lotto blocks to build 21-inch square modules.
Because of the modular approach and the modern look of our geometric blocks this year, I’m calling this effort the Mod-Mod Quilt-along.
You could choose to make a quilt in one of six sizes:
- Small (42-inch square) – 4 modules arranged 2-by-2
- Crib (42 by 63-inch rectangle) – 6 modules arranged 2 (wide) by 3 (high)
- Throw (63 inch square) – 9 modules arranged 3-by-3
- Twin (63 by 84-inch rectangle) – 12 modules arranged 3 (wide) by 4 (high)
- Full/Queen (84-inch square) – 16 modules arranged 4 by 4
- King (105 inch square) – 25 modules arranged 5 by 5
Each month, mid-month, I’ll tell you how many of the current month’s block you’ll need to make each of the above quilt sizes and where they will appear in your quilt.
I will be making two quilts and sharing my progress:
- A rainbow-colored throw using the color of the month from the rainbow scrap challenge (a sort of mystery quilt for me)
- A full/queen using a more controlled color palette with a common white-on-white (WOW) background
Fabric Estimates
If you are using a common background fabric, here’s my generous suggestion for how much you’ll need (keep in mind that I haven’t written all the block patterns yet):
- Small (42-inch square) – 1 1/2 yards
- Crib (42 by 63-inch rectangle) – 2 1/4 yards
- Throw (63 inch square) –3 1/4 yards
- Twin (63 by 84-inch rectangle) – 4 1/2 yards
- Full/Queen (84-inch square) – 6 yards
- King (105 inch square) – 9 1/4 yards
January’s Double Chevron Blocks
Here’s how many of these blocks you’ll need this month, for each of the 6 quilts:
| Small | Crib | Throw | Twin | F/Q | King | |
| Double Chevron Blocks | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
Smallest
If you are making the small quilt, you’ll make one Double chevron. Your quilt layout looks like this (so far–these will get more interesting in future months)
Crib
The Crib size quilt include 2 Double Chevron blocks, in the 6-module layout on the left.
Throw
In the square Throw, three modules are added to the layout and one more Double Chevron block for a total of 3 needed for this quilt.
As you can probably see, these modules (and quilt layouts) are nested. The smallest size becomes part of the crib size, which is part of the throw, which is part of the twin size. This means you can start small and decide to make a bigger quilt or … start out super ambitious and decide to make a smaller one.
Twin
For the Twin size, you’ll need 4 Double Chevron blocks.
Here’s where they will be in that quilt, constructed from 12 modules.
Full/Queen
You’ll need 2 more Double Chevrons–a total of 6–for the Full/Queen quilt. Here are the 16 modules for that quilt.
King
And for the super-ambitious, make 8 Double Chevron blocks. Here’s the 25 modules for that 105-inch square quilt.
The Badge
If you would like to add the badge at the top of this post to your blog, here’s the HTML code you need:
This help post will step you through how you add a badge to your blog, if you need a reminder.
This badge links to the home page of the Block Lotto. Depending on interest, I’ll set something up for the Mod-Mod Quilt-Along. If you are making this sampler or one of your own design and want to share your procress/progress here, please use the category my sampler.
tall red star experiment
I’ve been focusing on finishing my “row along” quilt to enter in the Dallas Quilt show, so haven’t let myself play with the tall red star blocks that I won in the fall, but this weekend I’m going to a quilt retreat so may have time to play with them. So I got them out tonight and laid them out in columns on some dark green fabric I have in mind for vertical sashing. The light doesn’t do them justice, but my how gorgeous they are! Thanks again to all of you.
I wasn’t sure how well all the different reds would play together (and they are all different!), but I think it works. I think it will be more columns than this, probably 8 rectangles long and 7 columns wide. I need to make at least one more. I’d love any comments. (I laid these out very randomly, so haven’t played with how the stars should go. I love how the yellows pop!)
Thanks again!
Block Lotto 2014 – My Plan
Kim asked in a comment if I could post something about my grand plan for this year. It’s really not so grand, but here’s my plan.
I gave those of you who received the January sneak peek before Christmas a glimpse inside my head and told you that after a year of mostly figurative blocks in 2013, this year we’ll be making blocks with a strong geometric feel in three (finished) sizes:
7 inch square
7 by 14 inch rectangle
14 inch square
When we make 7 inch squares, the maximum number of blocks you can make and enter into the lotto drawing will be nine. For the rectangles, the maximum will be six, and for the large squares, the maximum will be four.
I also promised a change of pace and guaranteed no basket blocks, nor houses, nor dogs, nor cats, nor hearts this year.
One thing will remain the same, though. As always, the lotto block patterns will be made using a variety of techniques, perhaps presenting an opportunity to try something new or perfect a technique that you haven’t used much.
About half the blocks will be made from two fabrics–a background plus another; the rest will be made from three or four.
This drawing shows the relative sizes of the blocks we’ll be making, they look something like this.
You might start thinking, as I did, how they could easily be combined into 21-inch square units in a number of ways. All three sizes could combine in a layout like this (including January’s Double Chevron):
If you think about multiples of 21-inch square modules, like me, you can see how you could build sampler quilts in a range of sizes:
- Small (42-inch square) – 4 modules arranged 2-by-2
- Crib (42 by 63-inch rectangle) – 6 modules arranged 2 (wide) by 3 (high)
- Throw (63 inch square) – 9 modules arranged 3-by-3
- Twin (63 by 84-inch rectangle) – 12 modules arranged 3 (wide) by 4 (high)
- Full/Queen (84-inch square) – 16 modules arranged 4 by 4
- King (105 inch square) – 25 modules arranged 5 by 5
The measurements above assume a straight set (no sashing) with no outer borders. The small quilt contains all the lotto blocks for 2014–so if you wanted to sample all the blocks, but not commit to a large quilt, you might choose to make the blocks for this one, perhaps as a wall quilt, table topper or baby quilt.
Because I am, at my heart a scrap quilter and most of my quilts are scrap quilts, I tend not to figure out fabric requirements in advance, but I’ll make my best effort to estimate how much background fabric you’ll need to make each sized quilt.
I plan to make two quilts–one smaller (crib) and one larger (Full/Queen) using this modular idea and each month, MID-MONTH, I will let you know how many of the current month block pattern you need to make for each of the six sizes of quilt for anyone who would like to quilt-along.
I’ve been thinking of it as a Mod-Mod Quilt-along. Mod for Modern because I think the geometric blocks we’re making can have a modern look. Mod for Modular because we’ll be putting the blocks into 21 inch square modules and then assembling them into the quilt tops.
For my crib quilt, I plan to make monochrome blocks using scraps in the designated color-of-the month in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Since I don’t know what the future color choices will be, I have no idea how it’s going to turn out. Here are my first blocks, two double chevrons in shades of blue.
For my large bed quilt, I’m using this set of fabrics that I won in a blog giveaway at the end of last year as a starting point and inspiration, adding to it from my stash.
If you are thinking about fabrics, keep in mind that even if we make a lotto block in only two fabrics, you might adapt it to use more in your sampler and vice versa. There are six different fabrics in each of my scrappy blue double chevrons.
Remember my red-and-white sampler quilt from last year’s blocks, where I combined different red fabrics in blocks that need more than just two and made 2-fabric blocks like the Oak Leaf, more scrappy by using more fabrics.
(If you’re curious, I hope to quilt the red and white sampler this month and be back for some show & tell.)
If you are thinking you might like to quilt along with me, let me know what else you need to know (or would like to know) in the comments. And look for the first installment of the Mod-Mod QAL in about a week.
Color suggestions?
Sophie asked for color combination suggestions. I really liked the palette suggested by the “To Boston With Love” project. Although it’s not in the screenshot, white was also used in people’s combinations. I guess this is a modern palette?
Like the Block Lotto and Win Hand-dyed Fabrics
Elizabeth joined the Block Lotto last summer. She recently offered a set of her beautiful hand dyed fabrics for a give-away. Thank you, Elizabeth!
These are 6 1/2 by 30-inch pieces–about 3 yards of them. They would make lovely Double Chevron blocks or just about anything else you wanted to make from them. The base fabric she uses is a tightly woven cotton, very much like batik fabric. The fabrics you win will be similar to these.
Elizabeth shared this with me about her dyeing:
I guess there are a couple of things that are relevant to my dyeing. I started out as a weaver, back in the 1960’s, and dyed a lot of my own wool and silk for weaving. Now that I’m a quilter, I still can’t always get the variety of fabrics I like, so dyeing called out to me. Luckily, I have a long-term friend who is a quilter, too, and her career has been in science. She does the chemistry and I do the “donkey work”. We dye 30″ squares (the fabric we buy is 60″ wide) and keep pretty scrupulous records so we can make more of something we really like and use a lot. The fabric is scoured (washed) before dyeing and after it is dyed, we rinse it and then wash three times in hot water with Orvus. Then it’s ironed on my ancient mangle.
Here’s how you can earn chances to win.
Every year or so, I ask you all if the Block Lotto needs a Facebook presence. A couple weeks ago, I (finally) joined Facebook myself and created a page for the Block Lotto. It’s just a start; I am still learning; but it’s there.
Earn ONE chance by liking our new Facebook page.
The Facebook page will have highlights from this site, but is not a replacement or alternate for entering blocks.
If you saw the post on my blog today, you might have read how coming up with the blocks we make is easy for me, but choosing the fabrics/color combinations we use is hard.
Earn TWO chances by leaving a comment with a suggestion for colors you’d like for us to use in a future lotto block. It can be a repeat of one from the past that you really liked, one of your personal go-to color combinations or something you’ve seen and would really like to try.
Have you made and posted Double Chevron blocks this month? If so, you’ve already earned two more chances. There are already more than 100 in the drawing for January!
Earn TWO chances by entering blocks in this month’s Block Lotto.
Last, you can earn one more chance by being a follow of this blog.
Earn ONE chance by leaving a comment telling me how you follow the Block Lotto.
Since I’ve jumped into Facebook, I thought I would try something else new for this giveaway and use rafflecopter. Use the widget below to sign-up and add up your chances to win some of Elizabeth’s beautiful fabric. If you aren’t Already a Block Lotto regular, make sure I have some way to contact you if you win.
(FYI, I took this photo using some bright natural sunlight, so along with seeing the vibrant colors (my goal), you also see shadows.)
December Stripes
4 in the mail from Norway to Mary Jane today.
An Antique Stripes Quilt
While the December winners are waiting for our stripes blocks to arrive, here’s a minimalist setting idea. This quilt is from the Infinite Variety exhibit of red and quilts in New York a few years ago.
The photo is a screen shot from the Infinite Variety iPad app.