Zig Zags by Janet Clare for Moda Blockheads

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:

Janet Clare's Zig Zags Pattern

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