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Moda Blockheads Cloud Nine Block16 Color Studies

9/10/2025

What is it about a row of flying geese that makes me love it so much? I don't even know but I love the lineup of triangles and especially a block like this that travels around in a square. Those geese are really giving DIRECTION! GO THIS WAY. So let's take a look at this block "Cloud Nine" from Debbie Maddy.

Moda Blockheads6 Quilt Block 16 Color Studies Robin Pickens

One thing that is always fun to play with on flying geese that are lined up this way, is to alternate the corner colors to be the same color as the center before it. The last row, right image, shows this "extending" of the arrow point. This gives it a more super-graphic kind of look. On this particular block I feel like it is wavy and 70s! I also played with the color that way on the bottom center block to get that middle row of wavy lines pointing to either side.

Some other ways of heightening direction with these blocks is with shading. The right image on top row has a gradation of dark to light triangles so it has that feeling of trailing off....

The middle row emphasizes some of the other corners within the geese units, to form more center blocks from those sides. Make a checkerboard with the center or blend it right into those sides to make a jaggety middle. The right middle image also forms a whole new corner shape by pulling in more of the white.

Grayscale, with and without block lines.

Moda Blockheads6 Quilt Block 16 Color Studies Thatched blocks Robin Pickens

This week's sewn blocks show a happy dance of blue and green, plain and dotty. Navy with turquoise and grass green and dotty lime. Lively and fresh!

And here is my snuggly calm warm tones of buttermilk, washed linen, oatmeal and cocoa.

Sometimes it is just really nice to have a monochromatic palette. With do much direction and contrast in this block, the monotone palette is very pleasing.

My flying geese have flown to the lower right corner- on the middle bottom of the cool corner. So many blocks!

Moda Blockheads6 Block 16 Color Studies Robin Pickens overall quilt layout

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Petal Pusher Block 15 for Moda Blockheads with Color Studies

9/3/2025

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Hello Petal Pusher! This is a cheery block from Crystal Manning. Here are a few color studies to play with those half square triangles and foundation paper pieced triangles.

It is fun to try a couple shades of lighter and darker colors within the petal sides to see how they can look more 3-dimensional. The middle top image is a good example of 3-d, almost looking like it is folded origami paper. The very center image draws me in with the contrast of light and dark. The bottom left seems like a twinkling star and the one to the right of it is a plus sign if you squint or fancy bow with cut ribbon ends. A beam of light from an open door down a dark corridor for the last one? What else can you see?

Black and white and grayscale for envisioning your own colors and patterns. The plus sign stands out more on these.
And then there are the sewn blocks: