XOXO by Lissa Alexander for Moda Blockheads 3

This week's block, XOXO from Lissa Alexander can be found at the Moda blog archive of Blockheads blocks. This is a great resource place to get your blocks and catch up on any you missed. 

Blockheads Archive with XOXO Block

I'm still doing some browns this week so I've added a pop of orange to liven it up, and a little gray for a cooler balance. I intended to do this block with tan background corners and just white centers in the O's but I forgot and my blocks were done before I remembered. I'm sticking with these!

For my mixed print this week I 'm using V&Co Ombre Confetti. I just love this fabric! The density change with the dots to go with the lighter or darker value of the color is just perfect. I love that little pop of celebration and movement. And those little leopard print handle Gingher scissors...they are the first scissors I got with fun handles. I got them about 18 years ago and they were a special birthday treat I gave myself.

Soooooo...want to see some color studies?? First I have my basic browns and orange. I made this in the first version since it went in with my rainbow row theme. I like looking at the richness when you add dark colors along with the light colors into those stitch-and-flip corners. And more orange, and how about playing with the orange and switching it up within the Xs and Os? If I were making the block for a fun pillow I would probably do something more mixed, like the right one on the second row. This stays with color stories- greens on top, yellow and oranges on the bottom. But each one is a mix of values within those colors and it feels like a lively mix of movement. 

The all-green blocks have a different feel. The one on the left has the OXXO go from light on top to dark on bottom while the background does the reverse, dark to light going down each row. And next to it, the lights and darks stay the same in the top and bottom and the 2 middle rows. This emphasizes the feeling of mountains and valleys vs letters. 

On the last row, I've played with the browns making a center square by using one corner of each X, O block. Then consistent color above and below that, to the sides and in the corners. It creates a feeling of banded color or a transparent film of color layed over the Xs and Os. And lastly, by alternating the insides and outsides (so a chartreuse center has turquoise corners and the next one has a turquoise center with chartreuse corners) we get a continuation of the angled shape from block to block, creating a composition on angled lines that form new diamonds. The little white triangles in the center are a focal point and a bow on the package! This one really has a strong directional movement to the way the blocks read as a continual sections. This is the other one I think I'd make as an experiment.

Check back on Saturday when I post some of the blocks I've been catching up on. I am really excited to share my applique bird and urn from a couple weeks ago and I did Joanna Figueroa's alternate flower too.
See you soon!

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