Neat setting for March blocks

Posted by on March 10, 2010 in blocks | 2 comments

I saw a really nice setting for wonky log cabin blocks over on paint creek quilts.   I can see setting the scrap strip blocks the same way.  This setting idea was what made me decide to tackle this month’s blocks – I had been thinking they were a bit too busy for my taste, but the wonky setting from a more plain fabric seems to calm them down a bit.

2 Comments

  1. Cool setting idea! Thank you for sharing it. I was just thinking about how these blocks would look with a plain sashing and this is a wonderful example. Every month, I always end up thinking of 4 or 5 ways I'd like to set these blocks and, I think, this is a great one.

    To make the background sashing "wonky," you could add a wide set of logs (not necessarily the same widths) of the background fabric and then use the same trimming technique we used on the blocks to square up the blocks (or would that really be to UNsquare them) to a consistent larger size. This would have the effect of floating the blocks, "with attitude."

    Because of the addition of Black and White in our blocks, one of those two colors would be a natural choice for the sashing/background, but if you wanted to push the overall color of the quilt to make a blue quilt or a purple quilt or, if you were me, a green quilt, using one of the cool colors from our palette in an UNbusy fabric would give the overall impression of a quilt of that color, while still highlighting the blocks themselves.

    Whether you think of it as "wonky", "liberated" or "with attitude" … the result is essentially the same. It's interesting to see how many ways we can label things … just like our quilting fore-mothers sometimes gave many names to the same traditional block 😉

  2. Krista, thank you for refering to my wonky block settings. Yep, exactly what you said: it was so busy and overwhelming with all these colored strips – and all the seams would have been pretty challenging to sew over when sewing the blanket together. That is also one of the reasons I didn't want to quilt this flannel blanket: I usually break several needles with these chunky seams…

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