Hen & Chicks block from Laurie Simpson for Moda Blockheads3

I love the way this week's block by Laurie Simpson, Hen & Chicks, can be a fun play with a checkerboard feel of an opportunity to emphasize the squares framing the center square. For Laurie's pattern click the link to access her blog with the pattern:

Laurie Simpson's Blog with Hen & Chicks

And here is my COLOR STUDY with the block! I am adding to my blue row this week. I'll be doing blocks to the lighter end of the spectrum but I like to play with the darker colors too and see how it changes the whole mood of the block.

I started with a simple version with a dark center, then tried light radiating out from the center. The longer rectangles can also start to make square shapes within the checkerboard. Keeping the colors the same on some squares next to the long rectangles makes a squared C shape. This one was a little harder to do a color ramp from top to bottom, so I gave up on my tries at that. At the end of my experiments, I sewed mine  pretty close to the one on the upper right.

I made the mistake of looking at the overall block and not reading directions before starting so I started making strip sets to subcut for efficiency. About half way through I realized the diagraming had a longer background rectangle joining the middle of the small square rows, so I kept going on the course for this one and made 9-patches with a square between. 

I also wanted a medium blue and a lighter blue so I flipped my Thatched to use the back side for the lighter blue. The dark center of the block is 96 Royal and the medium/light blue is 93 Sky.

I changed to piecing the way the directions instructed for my second one, made from Abby Rose fabrics. It was fun to put little roses and plaids into the blocks! 

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The blues in Abby Rose have more of a turquoise/teal color to them. It's called Seafoam in Abby Rose and I again used the back side on the rectangular strips to make my framing more subtle.

Fellow blockhead designers sewing along:
​6.10 – Laurie Simpson <–We are Here
6.17– Vanessa Goertzen
6.24 – Stacy Iest Hsu
7.1 – Robin Pickens
7.8 – Janet Clare
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

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