The Quilter's Bible. Linda
medallion quilt by Petra Prins features a central star panel surrounded by six borders, some plain and some pieced.
Medallion Quilts
These quilts are characterized by a central square or rectangle that forms the focal point of the quilt, with patchwork ‘frames’ added to it and building out from the centre. The quilts are usually highly balanced and symmetrical.
Sampler Quilts
These quilts feature a number of recognizable blocks in a unified design that shows the skill of the maker in coping with different techniques. (see Sampler Quilts.)
Scrap Quilts
These quilts are literally made up of scraps of fabric, pieced together in any design. Because they use fabrics already to hand they usually have a colourful quality. (see Scrap Quilts.)
Charm Quilts
These are quilts where each piece of fabric used is different – in the past the aim was to use 1,000! Charm quilts often use the same shape throughout, commonly a square, rectangle or triangle. Many fabric manufacturers today supply ranges of fabric cut as ‘charm squares’, usually 5in (12.7cm) square. People often use the internet to find like-minded quilters to swap fabrics with.
Friendship Quilts
Friendship quilts developed in America from around 1840 onwards as people moved and settled westwards. Quilts were given to family or friends to show love and affection. They often use fabrics given by loved ones and are usually signed by the maker.
Round Robin Quilts
These are fun quilts made by whole groups of quilters and are often medallion types. Everyone in the group makes a quilt centre and this is passed along to another person in the group who adds a border. It is passed on again to another quilter who adds the second border and so on. Eventually the quilt is returned to the originator, who can see how it has developed.
Working with Blocks
Most blocks are designed on geometric principles so a great many can be categorized as types (although even these categories have subdivisions!). There are thousands of block names, and many have more than one name, but the good news is that you don’t have to know the names of any of them to create wonderful patchwork. There are more than 100 blocks illustrated in this book – plenty to experiment with!
Blocks made from small units, such as the equilateral triangles used here, allow plenty of scope for playing with fabrics.
Some block names describe a shape the block may represent, such as Eight-Point Star, Spider Web and Streak o’ Lightning. Some are named after the pattern they represent, such as Pine Tree, Bow Tie and Pinwheel. Others are named after historical and religious subjects, such as Lincoln’s Platform, Clay’s Choice and Walls of Jericho. Some names are just fanciful, their origins lost in the past, such as Toad in a Puddle, Corn and Beans and Dove in the Window. When American magazines started publishing patchwork patterns from the 1830s onwards there was an explosion in new block designs and names. To make things easier, blocks are usually categorized into various types – see Block Types.
This book shows how to make many blocks, beginning with simple shapes, such as squares, rectangles and triangles, and moving on to more complex shapes, including diamonds, trapeziums and polygons. By working through the book you can increase your knowledge and skills and tackle all sorts of block.
Bright Idea
If you are creating a quilt or other project composed of various blocks and can’t decide which arrangement would work best, arrange the blocks on the floor or bed and use a digital camera or mobile phone to take a picture. Change the layout around and take another picture. Do this as often as necessary. You can then scroll through the pictures to decide which one you like best.
Just two blocks were used in this quilt by Pam and Nicky Lintott made from a Jelly Roll™. The alternating setting and colour combinations create a vibrant and interesting quilt.
Block Types
The way that blocks are classified depends on the books you read and how deep you want to delve into the subject. Blocks range from simple one-patch designs to complex multi-patch arrangements using a mixture of shapes. The idea of a quilt made up of the same one-patch units or blocks may seem limited but the exciting thing about patchwork is that a single shape repeated over and over but in different colours and fabric patterns can create a vibrant design. As experience grows so too does the thrill of combining different types of block, creating patterns within patterns. Of course, blocks don’t have to be regular and they may also be made up of appliqué motifs rather than be pieced. The following general categories are often used to describe block types, with diagram examples below. Subsequent sections in the book show how to create such blocks.
One-Patch Blocks
These can be made up of various shapes, including squares, rectangles, triangles, diamonds and hexagons, and when combined in certain patterns are given names. These blocks lend themselves well to interlocking, mosaic patterns called tessellations, where combinations of positive and negative space or light and dark tones create fascinating visual illusions.
Four-Patch Blocks
These are easy to sew and so versatile. A four-patch block is made up of four units, but these can be subdivided to create many more patterns. A combination block of four different blocks might also be described as a four-patch block if it is used repetitively in a quilt layout.
Five-Patch Blocks
These are constructed on a five x five grid, so each block would contain a total of twenty-five units. Subdivisions of the elements of the grid can create many more variations. These units do not have to be the same size and the central one can be narrower or wider than the flanking ones.
Seven-Patch Blocks
These blocks are constructed on a seven x seven grid, so each block