In my LQS, I saw a pattern for a shadow box quilt and they said it was good to showcase a fabric (or multiples - whatever goes in the big box). Well, a year later, I have a fabric that I want to showcase and I want to put it in a shadow box

What I'm wondering is a) how big should I make the squares (I was originally thinking of 5.5", finish at 5" ) and how big for the shadow (maybe 2.5" ?? ). Especially with the shadow, I'm not sure how large it should be compared to the squares... half ... 2:5... 1:5... I know I'm overthinking, lol. So anyway, what are your thoughts?

I did a mock up of the block in Paint, which is below. Between the pink and black would be a neutral (in the picture - white), which would be used as sashing and inner border as well. On my computer, the white really blends in with the board's background, so I wanted to clarify

I did a quick google search, and here's a link (about 4 pictures down) that shows a finished shadow box quilt, for those of you who need the whole picture :) http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/...rints-and.html

The only ones I have seen have been rectangles. Would 5 x 9 be big enough for your fabric? Have you put Shadowbox in the search box? I saw one a month or so ago that was very nice. Squares - I would think at least 6 1/2.

Here's one
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-104960-1.htm

I like the way you added the squares as an example. I did look at the link you provided (spent some time drooling there). It looks to me like the shadow block is the same size as the pink block. Of course, only cutting the black to make the shadow part, then adding the white blocks of the backing color. I would cut your "pink" for a 5" finished block, then your black at 1 1/2 X 5 1/2 for the vertical strip, and 1 1/2 x 4 1/2 for the horizontal shadow. Cut the two backing squares at 1 1/2 each. (Unless you want to do a set in seam and cut the black as an "L".)

I hope this sounds a bit more clear that mud. I can see what I would do, just trying to give you a visual you can make sense of. :-)

That was awesome using the rectangles!

the one in your link used 10 inch squares

I love this pattern, I havn't bought it yet but hope to make one of these.

Don't buy it. Take a good look; you can figure it out for any size block you want! :-) :thumbup:

I frequently use drop shadows in my pieces, love to have dimension in my work. The shadow width depends on how high you want you blocks to float and how low the light source is. Skinny shadows imply the light is overhead, wider implies lower.

A good place to start is around 15% of the size of your block, rounded up to make it a sensible measurement for cutting and piecing. There are no rules and making adjustments to wind up with the final size you want is completely logical.

Some examples:
http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/13/49/5...h/irr_ce10.jpg

http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/13/49/5...h/010_co10.jpg

http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/13/49/5...h/000_0010.jpg

One hint to watch out for...the outer border on the two sides with shadows can be confusing. Remember that you want your eye to center the blocks, Not the shadows, it's all to enhance the illusion. The outer edge of the block to the edge of the quilt should be the same all the way around, regardless of shadows. Have a grand time!!

I have plans to make one of these. I was going to cut the squares to be 6 inches, and the shadows to be 1.5, so the finished block would be 7.5, and then use maybe a 2.5" border between blocks.

I was also planning to cut a strip of black that was 5.5" x wof and a strip of white that was 2" by wof, sew together, and then cut my shadows from there. I'd repeat with a 6" strip of black and another strip of white for the longer side of the shadow.

Hope that makes sense -- that's off the top of my head and not from my sketch book!

I think the size of the focal square should be determined by the scale of your focal fabrics IMHO
The scale of your block pieces look great to me :D:D:D