Your challenge, if you choose to accept it,
is FRACTURED BLOCKS. This month Julia Triman is hosting the challenge. Take a look at the fun tutorial she put together at our website and make your own original blocks with this cool technique. We will work this month and show our work at the September meeting where a winner will be picked at random from everyone that participates. Follow along with everyone's work by following the hashtag #dcmqgchallenge in Instagram and ask any questions/vent in our Slack #challenges channel.
Fractured Blocks Challenge
We had the pleasure of hearing Carole Lyles Shaw speak via Zoom at my local (Frederick, Maryland) quilt guild meeting recently, and one of the methods she talked about caught my eye - she described how she created a quilt, titled Pinwheel Abstraction 102, by cutting apart traditional pinwheel blocks and piecing them into a larger composition (here’s a photo of the quilt she shared with us: https://carolelylesshaw.com/astra-portfolio/pinwheel-abstraction-102/)
This got me thinking how fun that idea might be for a guild challenge! I propose that we create traditional blocks of any type/shape/size, cut them (freehand/improv or with a plan) and piece them into a new composition, with or without additional fabrics.
Here’s an example I created with a small pinwheel block:
I started with four half square triangles (I used 4” squares to create these 2 at a time, then trimmed the HSTs to 2.75” square):
Then I sewed them together into a pinwheel block:
Then I cut the block in a random way:
And sewed the pieces together along with a few scraps:
Then I moved my ruler(s) around until I found a composition I liked:
And cut out a 6.5” sq block (the scraps of which can become part of the next block!):
I think this little block could stand alone as a fun little study, or it could become a block in a larger piece or…many other ideas! I had a lot of fun making this and I can’t wait to see what you make!
For inspiration, see:
Carole Lyles Shaw has a Fractured Disappearing Nine Patch pattern in her book Madly Modern Quilts
Brandon Wulff has a Biscotti Quilt method which is a specific technique for cutting and re-assembling a log cabin quilt - no workshops available at this time, but check out the IG hash tag for examples: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/biscottiquilt/
Printable directions for this month’s Fractured Blocks Challenged, hosted by Julia.