Hello everybody,
I want to start a new quilt and I want your advice. I have hundreds, probably thousands, of 4" squares. I want to make a quilt using as many of them as possible. I thought about cutting them into triangles and sewing them together. Do you have any other ideas? Im not an expert quilter. I have lots to learn. I've made lots quilts that are basically squares sewn together. I want to do something more difficult but not too hard. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Judy

You could do a square in a square, use one 4" block for the center, cut 2 4"blocks diagonally and stitch them to each side of the block. This can also be done paper pieced.
You could cut some of the blocks in half and piece them together for a striped border.

If you have that many you could make a one patch charm quilt. I'm collecting squares to one day do this. :lol: one day is probably a long way off but whose counting. In a traditional charm quilt 1000 different pieces were used no two the same, but no one has to stick to rules. some ideas for a one patch could be Pyrimids or Tumbler are reasonably simple to piece, Dutch Tile is another nice one also Kite. Apple Core is a really nice one but is a bit trickier as it is a curved one patch. Hope that's some help :D
Here is a link to templates for one patch charm quilts
http://qnm.com/articles/feature15patt/

shelly what size are you saving for your charm quilt, maybe i can help you with another swap ? :) :-) :D Esther

Judy, please look up the August cover of McCalls Quilting magazine online. It has the kind of quilt you are thinking of. A woman collected swapped squares for a year. Then she cut them diagonally into triangles, added a "stem" piece by sewing a long thin rectangle between the two halves. It makes a really pretty quilt. I am making one myself. Here is the link: http://mccallsquilting.com/backissues Go here and then select the August 2007 issue to see the pic.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Here's something I did recently. Take your little squares and sew 9 together in a square (actually a nine patch) then cut the whole nine patch in half then half again. Mix them up and sew them back together again. You could also make 2 nine patches, cut them apart and mix between the 2 sets for a whole new design. Of course it will be scrappy, but you'll have various sized pieces in your completed block and it adds movement to your finished quilt. Jan in VT

Judy, if you have enuf light and dark, a scrappy trip around the world would be a nice quilt!

http://www.quiltville.com/scrappytrips.shtml
Scrappy Trips Around The World

I too have a lot of sqaures and was stuck for something new then I came across a picture of a quilt that was all charm squares but had a one colour sashing in between all the squares and it looked very good :D

Or a Scrappy Bargello......

http://www.quiltville.com/scrapbargello.shtml

Hi there There is a great book titled Nickel Quilts that I have used in the past for 5 inch squares, however, you can also adapt the quilts into the 4 inch squares, the author (Pat Speth and Charlene Thode) have conversions both for the 4 inch and 6 inch squares. As for me these were really fun quilts to make! :lol:

I have a box like that too. At some point, I'd like to make a prairie point border for a big quilt. Yvonne made a flag wall hanging out of prairie points that is really worth a look.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/posts/list/1066.page

Jan22: we had a demo on this technique at our quilt show last month. The demonstrator called it "disappearing 9-patch". It was a big hit and lots of people tried it out and said it was great fun to do this block.

Our quilt group's making lap size quilts for a nursing home and I used this technique. It went together in just a couple hours. Last nite I did the free motion quilting on it and tonite I'll finish it up with the binding. I previously made a twin size quilt for a friends son who is a freshman in college. Using many different fabrics in masculine colors I made a variable log cabin block (the center was much larger than normal) then I cut it in half, and in half again and mixed up the squares with several others, sewed them back together and it was a very stricking design. The kid was very pleased to get it for a graduation gift. Now I'm hoping it's not hanging out his window at college.

If you have any leftovers, I just saw the cutest apron, made from scrappy squares (nickels, I think) in the connectingthreads.com catalog.

Make sure you show us what you come up with!

The quilt top I just finished is based upon 4 inch squares + a 4patch. Let me know if you want me to scan the pattern.