 Happy Moda Blockheads day!! Time for a few color studies of Laurie Simpson's Broken Dishes block. Started out with simple black and white and shades of gray with dark corners to make an diagonal direction. Then pinwheels and more playing with introducing color to give the feeling of color transparency (can you imagine a transparent film of color over the corners on number 4?). You can play up the diamonds within a bigger diamond or emphasize the middle band as a horizontal pointed shape. In the last row I tried more of a spectrum of colors and love how the very last one becomes an arrow by using the background color to make a couple triangles disappear! I've been working on 8" blocks for this project and this week I was busy on another project with smaller blocks. I forgot I was doing the 8" for this and ended up making a 4" one! I'm debating adding a border or remaking it and I'll post the blocks after I do my scrappy one too.  Did you know it's National Sew A Jelly Roll Day on Saturday?! September 19th get your rolls ready for a day of sewing those long strippy beauties. A couple of my jelly roll patterns that I wanted to share are Definite Plus and Showering Stars. Both quilts can be made large with Jelly Rolls or smaller with Honey Buns. I recently made Definite Plus in Abby Rose and I'm hoping I can get to longarming it on Saturday. That's still working with Jelly Rolls, right? Equalizer is another pattern that works with Layer Cakes or a Jelly Roll and has a clean modern look. Pair your prints with some solids to create that gradated look to lighter color to create the feeling of movement. Whatever you pick for your project for the day, I hope you have fun sewing!   
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 Coming Together by Lissa Alexander is a lovely play on Xs and pluses. I played a little with color, two tone color or no color in the center and one color or shades of color moving around on the X sides. For my layout, I'll be putting this to the lighter end of my blue row so I did the white X and kept my color in the background and center plus.  I used my tonal white on cream sunflower seeds for the white X and some of the blue coordinates for the background and center plus. For the Thatched version I used cream and the blue Horizon and Pond blues from the Solana line too.  For the block pattern, visit Lissa's blog and it will be posted in the Moda Blockheads group on Friday and in the Moda archives. Happy sewing!
 When you have a lot of half square triangles, there is opportunity to play within the angles to show shapes within shapes. I did some background colors that defined the quadrants of the block and also highlighted the white triangles to create diamonds, corners, and compass points. Try squinting to see the shapes more clearly. I also tried making a lighter center with radiating light going out. Also, how about that cute little star in the center? On a few a made them accent colors or warm tan color and others just left them full white.  My Thatched block uses a light purple version that is from the Sweet Pea & Lily group. And that is also the group I used for my scrappy block, with a little flower in the middle! I made the 8" size and was really pleased with the little half square triangles.  Hope you are finding your own fulfillment from this journey! Thank you Lisa Bongean for this rich and beautiful block design. Be sure to check out her blog at https://lisabongean.com/2020/09/02/moda-block-heads-3-block-34-fulfillment/ Happy sewing everyone!
Are you ready for a little applique this week? It's Jan Patek's week and that means it's time for a sweet applique design. But keep reading all the way down since we also have an AWESOME GIVEAWAY this week for a lucky quilter- a MODA BLOCKHEADS T-SHIRT!! But first...the block...this week's block has a charming Beeskep with stripes. Color studies are simple, just showing light on dark, dark on light with some little alterations (flowers and bee). The pattern is at Jan's blog:  I decided to make my flower more of a group of circles. I added extra circles on the Bird and Urn block and liked that and thought this would tie in well with that block. Instead of a star, I liked the idea of a bee on this block. My blocks will be living on the lighter end of my brown row so I'm staying closest to the last color image.  The all-thatched block has a soft tan background from flipping the Oatmeal Thatched to the backside and letting that chambray look be the whole background. Chunky stripes for my beeskep with a nice fat bumble bee. For my block with a mix of fabrics, I've used Ombre Confetti for the beeskep darker stripes and the background. I cut graphic flower circles from my Stalks print in Solana and used the charcoal leaves from Dandi Annie for the hive base. The bees are little ones cut from one of the coordinates in Painted Meadow. They are small but I sewed them on along the black rows on their tiny bodies (and these all use fusible material too).   So I mentioned a GIVEAWAY! Moda has some BLOCKHEADS tshirts with a sampling of blocks from this 3rd year of the sewalong. There is a block from each designer. I'll be doing a random drawing for one lucky person to get one of these tshirts of their choice. To enter, scroll down and leave a comment telling me what you liked best about the start of the school year! For me, it was new clothes, new lunchbox, the excitement of possibility for the year ahead, and the smell of fall leaves!  This is the image from the front of the tshirt. The back has the designer's IG names. You can purchase one of these shirts if you'd like and Moda will donate money to local food banks. There are three styles- short sleeve, long sleeve and 3/4 sleeve baseball tee. If you want to buy some, use the links below to order. The short sleeve v-neck is $29.50, long sleeve is $34 and baseball tee is $3o. I will draw a winner from my blog comments on Sunday, August 23rd.    Happy sewing everyone!!
-Robin It is such fun to see the differences you can come up with for Basket blocks. Last year's Blockheads sampler had one that ended up being one of my favorite blocks in the group (although I couldn't pick just one favorite). I like to see the variations on them. Visit Betsy Chutchian's blog for this weeks lovely basket block that she has provided! For color studies I looked at the outer triangles going from light to dark on the outsides, light basket on dark background and more variations of scrappy grays to make a sparkly mix of light and dark. When I introduced another color I did a light to dark gradation and one where background ramps darker going in the opposite direction of the basket getting darker. Then I just played with the triangles to see what forms I could get that broke out of the basket theme. They feel very graphic to me. The very last one reminds me of corners of paper folded over and touching in the middle, almost like folding origami paper.  My baskets will live in the brown row so I'm staying with the more traditional basket theme and making the top part of the basket in lively oranges while the base is a lovely oatmeal color.  For my scrappy version I've got some Solana, Abby Rose and some Ombre Confetti to add some pattern play and some roses in the center of the basket. I thought the ratan/caning look of the Solana print had that basket feel in the print.  For those people placing their blocks on point, the basket is especially nice. I can't wait to see the versions of ones that people make on the facebook group!  Be sure to visit other Blockheads designers for more inspiration and happy basket collecting!  8.12 – Betsy Chutchian- we are here!
8.19 – Jan Patek 8.26 – Brigitte Heitland 9.2 – Lisa Bongean 9.9 – Lissa Alexander 9.16 – Laurie Simpson 9.23– Vanessa Goertzen 9.30 – Stacy Iest Hsu 10.7 – Robin Pickens 10.14 – Janet Clare 10.21 – Jen Kingwell 10.28 – Joanna Figueroa 11.4 – Corey Yoder 11.11 – Sherri McConnell Doesn't it just make you happy when the block is about love? It does for me! Visit Sherri's blog for her sweet Love at Home block instructions: The hearts are adorable and I think it is absolutely perfect that there are 4 of them and we have four in our family! I think the color studies are fairly straightforward.  What I've tried here is alternating colors of hearts, playing with color in the background with lighter hearts, making the hearts multiple shades of red (reminiscent of shading) and trying a single switched out heart to light on dark within the composition, or with neutrals and one pop of reds! How about tucking a little accent in there to reflect the reds? And the last one was an idea...remember Stacy Iest Hsu's Won't You Be My Neighbor block? What if ONE of those houses took up a quadrant of this block to signify the "Love at Home"! I just love it when blocks can play together!  My hearts this week will live in my purple row. Purple Heart Honor? Royal heart? Or just the majestic feeling of purple theatrical drama. Paired with pink it is romantic and pretty.  For my scrappy quilt I used fabrics from my Sweet Pea & Lily line. Did you know the two purples in Thatched Basics are from that particular line? AND in August there is a Basics Bundle that Moda is showing on instagram and that Aster purple is in the basics bundle. It makes such a nice lively color combined with the greens and blues of the group (and oranges too) So would you like a peek of how my quilt layout is progressing so far? When I jump around each week from color family to color family it is hard to tell so here is a preview:  For reference, below is a computer image with blocks I've filled in as I've done them. I am working on making a darker/more color saturated left side gradating to a lighter, less saturated right side, while keeping rows of rainbow color. Can I say rainbow color when I have brown and gray in there? A spectrum of color, I guess, is a better description. It is very interesting to see how it is progressing as I work along. I do have some things in advance but not everything so I keep working with a large part of this being a mystery to me too!  Have fun with your hearts and lots of love this week! Visit the other Moda Blockheads designers: 8.5 – Sherri McConnell- we are here! 8.12 – Betsy Chutchian 8.19 – Jan Patek 8.26 – Brigitte Heitland 9.2 – Lisa Bongean 9.9 – Lissa Alexander 9.16 – Laurie Simpson 9.23– Vanessa Goertzen 9.30 – Stacy Iest Hsu 10.7 – Robin Pickens 10.14 – Janet Clare 10.21 – Jen Kingwell 10.28 – Joanna Figueroa 11.4 – Corey Yoder  We are half way through the blocks at this point! It is so fun to see them all come together as a group. This is a cheery block from Corey Yoder to kick off round 3, RING AROUND. The pattern is at Corey's blog:  This week's block has a ring of squares that surrounds the center diamond. You can keep the "ring" around the center fairly straightforward (like the first one and the one below it) or treat the small squares as more of a checkerboard (second image). Playing with shades of light and dark can make a glowing square overlaying the horizontal and vertical bands running through the block. Dropping out the corners to white emphasizes the octagonal shape that the block can take. And that last image treats each corner as it's own color group.  I was intrigued by dropping out a couple opposite corners and how the shape can look like a leaf out of a Minecraft world. I also experimented with the dark outside going into a light inside as well as creating more of a hashtag shape within the center. So many possibilites!  At first I thought I was going to try one of those giant pixelated leaves but when I tried it with the other blocks it looked a little out of proportion. However, someone commented on Facebook at the leaf could look good with the circle one next to it (middle of bottom row) as a big bloom. That could be a fun pillow! So I'll still try it on another project.  I had fun with the center being a little picture frame for my scenic print from Solana (shipping in October 2020 to quilt shops) and a mixture of prints from Abby Rose and Painted Meadow surrounding it. Thanks Corey for the fun block!  More Moda Blockheads Designers:
7.29 – Corey Yoder- we are here! 8.5 – Sherri McConnell 8.12 – Betsy Chutchian 8.19 – Jan Patek 8.26 – Brigitte Heitland 9.2 – Lisa Bongean 9.9 – Lissa Alexander 9.16 – Laurie Simpson 9.23– Vanessa Goertzen 9.30 – Stacy Iest Hsu 10.7 – Robin Pickens 10.14 – Janet Clare 10.21 – Jen Kingwell 10.28 – Joanna Figueroa Happy Wednesday! I enjoyed making Joanna Figueroa's block this week. I had just finished the little 1" HST from Janet Clare's block design so those corners came together so fast after all that practice! If you haven't gotten Joanna's pattern, you can go to her blog through the link below: Color studies for "Broken Dishes" start out with a few shades of blue with white, then progress to include green, along with playing with light and dark. The four corners of the block look very different depending if they are white, dark color or lighter colors. I like how the right image on the top row has the look of bows or baskets on angles in the corners. And directly underneath that block, the bands of colors of teal or blue run through in horizontal and vertical bands. The first image on the second row has a "rounder" or more octagonal feel, while the one next to it has strong square side borders. In the bottom row, the first image is a graduation of light in the center, radiating out. And the two images next to it assigns colors to each corner, creating shaddow and light bands within the colors.  My blocks this week will live in my blue row. The all-Thatched has Royal and Sky blues, utilizing some backs for more light shades. The scrappier block uses the warmer Seafoam blues from Abby Rose with an additional "Varietals" print from Solana added in. If you have Abby Rose, the blues carry through very nicely to Solana.   Can you believe we have finished the second round of the sewalong? Next week we will go back to Corey Yoder and start the rotation over! Happy sewing and have fun visiting the other Blockheads designers!  More Moda Blockheads Designers:
7.22 – Joanna Figueroa- we are here! 7.29 – Corey Yoder 8.5 – Sherri McConnell 8.12 – Betsy Chutchian 8.19 – Jan Patek 8.26 – Brigitte Heitland 9.2 – Lisa Bongean 9.9 – Lissa Alexander 9.16 – Laurie Simpson 9.23– Vanessa Goertzen 9.30 – Stacy Iest Hsu 10.7 – Robin Pickens 10.14 – Janet Clare 10.21 – Jen Kingwell The lovely block "The Proposal" from Jen Kingwell brings back memories of a sparkly diamond ring glinting out in the moonlight with a question that warmed my heart from my dear husband (husband-to-be at that moment). I will be doing my block this week in white and light gray shades, just like a diamond. But what if you wanted to try something else?  This paper-pieced pattern can be done with gradations to give that 3 dimensional look. Or maybe treat it as a graphic, light and dark bands with more contrast. The third image plays off dark on light background on the top with light on dark background mirroring on the bottom. In the bottom row, when you accent the middle side angles with another color, it starts to look more like an emblem. The last image also suggests some transparency and light coming through on an angle. Teresa on facebook asked about ideas for this on point and it is an interesting block to think about that. Since I still had my file open I tried modifying and rotating a few. I like how a grouping of 4 can point to a center area. For the one on the right, I took the two halves of the block and joined them on the opposite side to make rays coming out of the center.  Isn't it perfect that this block from Jenn comes right at the time of her anniversary? Happy Anniversary Jen! In honor, the folks at Moda thought it would be fun to share a special proposal or wedding in our lives or family. This is my dear husband and I on our wedding day. He is the best partner in life!!  I'll post my block when its done. Right now I'm STILL making HST from Janet's block from last week! Almost there...
This week's block can really be interpreted SO MANY different ways so I just picked a few for color studies. But first, linking to Janet's blog for the pattern if you haven't gotten it already: Half Square Triangles. Lots of them. I think it's interesting that Janet's block size uses one size of half square triangles no matter which size block you are making for Moda Blockheads. So if you are making a 4" block you will just have fewer rows. If you are making a bigger block, they are the same size pieces, just more of them and you add rows. I am making 8" blocks so I've only done color studies with the configuration for 8". I'm sure you can imagine more or less!  I've started with the basic idea that Janet has on her instructions. Zig Zags have light and dark sections with solids running in between as a solid chevron color. The image next to it is a similar idea but with a scrappier mix of colors and the inside chevrons using different lights and darks. I've got a row of dark green triangles that crops the zig zag on the outer row. If you don't "see" it, squint your eyes to see the banding. The last image on the first row plays with light towards the center and darker colors around the outside perimeter. On the second row I've put light in the middle and am gradually making the colors darker going towards the top and bottom. And with that last one, I started playing with a vertical band within the half square triangles and bringing a column of arrow points down. I thought this was pretty fun so how about if the whole image did a play of contrasts like that?  Keep in mind that the half square triangles are all still going in the same direction as diagrammed originally. Its just playing with the placement of light and dark. I see arrows going up and down in vertical motion with a row of dark blues between. Or even zig zags in the background (large) behind the columns. Or how about we make the separating columns in color? On the second row I've rotated between light and dark arrow heads by column, all lined up. And the last image staggers the placement of the arrow head in the dark row AND brings in another color. Because the arrow heads are made from half square triangles and not flying geese, they feel more dimensional in their light and dark subtle variances.  This image keeps the chevron zig zags and plays with the half square triangles in the center as a composition within a composition. You could use flying geese for the perimeter blocks or still play with the subtlety through scrappier colors and breaking up the solid zig zags with accents.  One more...you would need about 8 shades of blue to do this. I started with white on the right and paired it with really light blue under and in the row next to it. As I moved left I kept pairing the triangle with a darker shade and making it one of the triangles in the next column (the pieces I added are in that right column). I get my illusion of zig zag with a green and light center band, with just two shades of green and the white and lightest blue. It would be tough to have enough shades of blue for this but I wonder if it could work with ombre fabrics??  For my block I started by looking through my leftover half square triangle box and bag. I sew an extra seam often when making snowball blocks or flying geese and rummage through for times like this to see if I have some ready pieces that might just need a little extra trimming to be the right size. The other thing that would be great for this week is Triangle Paper! I didn't know about that until I did Moda Blockheads last year and read Corey Yoder's blog about it. When I have a lot of half square triangles to make it sure makes a difference in efficiency! However, for my scrappy version I found about half my triangles in my HST scrap box and I made the other half. For my all-Thatched version I made all new pieces.  For the Thatched version, I used a combination of Flying Geese and Half Square Triangles. The center area is the focus with the contrast and accent colors. I love home this looks like a composition within a composition. And I am considering just making this into a little wall mini vs putting it into the sampler. I like how it looks standing alone. After joining it and pressing it intensely, I saw the Flying Geese unit at the top middle being "off" a little. I'm thinking I might just live with it. We'll see... Janet Clare says to not point out your mistakes, so I think I'm just pointing out "the personality of the block!"  And here is my scrappy version added to the mix! I used the composition of all HST and a darker zig zag running through horizontally. I made this one in the 6" size and since my quilt is using 8" blocks I will probably add an inch border going all the way around the block. I like the size of this one the way it is and did not want to make more HST. I hope you all had fun with this block!  More Moda Blockheads Designers: 7.8 – Janet Clare - we are here! 7.15 – Jen Kingwell 7.22 – Joanna Figueroa 7.29 – Corey Yoder 8.5 – Sherri McConnell 8.12 – Betsy Chutchian 8.19 – Jan Patek 8.26 – Brigitte Heitland 9.2 – Lisa Bongean 9.9 – Lissa Alexander 9.16 – Laurie Simpson 9.23– Vanessa Goertzen 9.30 – Stacy Iest Hsu 10.7 – Robin Pickens  |
About ROBINDesigner of colorful florals for Moda fabrics. Modern to transitional quilt designer. Illustrator, sewist, crafter. 
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