Can you find a batik or blender with both the blue and the green in it? Trim squares however you wish, add a frame, THEN make them all the same size.

Great advice. This will make it work into a beautiful work of art.

I do beleive it is a small world indeed, I am also in Ohio,I don't know if you know the story behind these blocks or not. If not they could have came down the line and I may have had them for a while. Years ago my former boss was moving to Maine, She gave me and another co-worker several huge trashbags stuffed full of various scraps, unfinished projects, ect,etc. I know their was bunches of these blocks that I held onto for probably 10 years or so and them passed on again to another. I am not sure if they are the same ones but it sure sounds like from the descripion that they were. Just thought it was cool if it is true:)

I have ran into that problem,I found a fabric that looked like wood grain and made picture frames. :D

I would put strips using a narrow seam on the sides and then offset the blocks with maybe a nature tree type patter between the blocks to make the top. Use the nature material for the back. These are beautiful just from seeing one. I would like these myself.

Agree with Amma - the latest trend seems to be quilts with different size blocks - put together in rows or columns and no matching of "squares"

Maybe you could make them into attic window blocks. or frame them like a picture frame, with other blocks in the quilt not framed. This way they would spotlight themselves. Just a thought, perhaps you could possible make them in some sort of round block.

If the blocks aren't square, there is a technique you can use, and that is to cut the sashing over-sized ... then, set the block square and trim the whole thing square ... usually, in a length, the difference from one end of the sashing to the other is negligible. <wave>

I had a friend who found those in a thrift shop and she asked me to make her a quilt. I used a very simple setting. I cut all the squares to an equal size and went from there. You could even log cabin frame them. I don't remember exactly what I did for setting but it was simple.

ok here is colors I picked out for the frame for that attic window pattern I have a litter fern green too besides the dark one but need opinion on colors please

I think they would be cute like this:

http://www.mspquiltingangels.org/march2010.htm

Just a thought. :-) Good luck w/them. :-)

Ditto !! And, if you lose some of the main theme...it looks like it's blocked by the window but you know what's missing".

Beautiful! I like the frames not all being the same color :D:D:D

I am not sure if they are all the same, but you might sew two together if some are 'left' and some are 'right'.

Going to be just awesome! By the way, love your African Grey avatar too. Wonderful super smart bird.

don't try to trim them all to the same size. trim them to size you like, individually. then do border strips, maybe a couple of turns, like a log-cabin block. use different width strips until you get to a size that you can make them all the same size. then--square up to your chosen size.
Sharyn Craig has great ideas in her books. crazy log-cabin is what some people call this. you can even make the blocks different sizes & arrange them into rows with sashings.

I would do this too!

use some patterns, not all solid colors for the strips. more interest to the quilt. add more colors.

whoever posted the Kaye Woods site---thanks ! the diamond shape templates are just what I have been looking for to do an animal print I have. between Kaye & Eleanor, we could learn just about we need to about quilting. those girls have stood the test of time.
OK---I'm done posting on this one.
Post your pictures of the animals when done, we would all like to see how they turned out. they will be great ! you will end up with more than one quilt.

well I am totally lost hate to say...I made one block with just the 2 colors and not really sure about it...I feel pretty stupid you want to know the truth

I haven't read every post, of course, but one can rarely tell what is going on by one block.
Are you going to alternate the colors and directions? Or can you add one more border, for example ... on the blue sides, put a black border, and on the black sides place the blue color.
As I remember it, you are working on different color-themed blocks, so are you going to change to the brown/gold tones or whatever on the other blocks? Or had you decided that you were going to go with blue and black on each block?
Either way, by adding two borders, alternating the colors, you will add a dimension to the block ...
On the next block, you may want to just switch the two colors ... currently, you have black on left/right, blue on up/down.
On the next block, you would put the blue on the sides and the black on the top ... again, another dimension ...
I guess I will go back through the thread to see what you have been thinking about <wave>

okey, dokey!
I went back and read the thread, and you had chosen to do the attic windows ...
You needed to put the lighter color on the top and one side, and then the dark color on the bottom and opposite side ...
the light color is the window frame when the sun comes up, and the dark color represents the shadow ...
does that help? Have to go out to water cattle, but when I get back, I will try to remember to find another link for you on attic windows. <wave>

So you are saying to put say the light blue on say the left side and bottm and then the brown on the right side and top...am I understanding you right...probably NOT...lol...I am going to add the light blue on the side of the brown and the brown on the side of the light blue hoping it looks ok had to quit earlier ended up with company ..hoping to get more accomplished later this wk between work and house work but as soon as I do will post another one that was just a general ideal I had one for the attic window and i am (dumb) I guess couldnt figure it out...I have never done anything to extravagent I have always done easy stuff I guess afraid to mess it up..

What if you cut them into a circle and set them into a background of a woodsy forest type fabric? What if you used a little fabric dye/paint to add some sky and foreground colors to soften the stark white?

You could make a 9 patch pizzazz quilt and just fussy cut the blocks the right sizes.

Silly me! I went to a website:
http://quilterscache.com/A/AtticWindowsBlock.html

The colors actually only go on two sides of each block ...
In the sample on the webside, the dark is on the right side, and the light is on the bottom.
You don't put color all around each block, only on two sides.
The reason being: when you put four together, the frame from one block actually frames the one beside it or to the bottom ...
If you were standing to the left of a window, and look out the frames, the only thing you would see would be the bottom and right side, and the more frames in the window, the more of that image you would be seeing.
Now! In the sample at the website, she has you actually sewing a "Y" seam, but since you insist you are a beginner, I would recommend you do it a bit different.
In the lower right corner of your frame, use a Half Square Triangle.
That is the example on one of the other pages that someone sent you to.
To do it, you take the finished size of your framing strips, add 7/8ths of an inch (or a full inch because you can trim it down) ... that will be the size of your square. Cut one square from each color at that size.
Put right sides together, draw a diagonal line on the back of the lighter color.
Stitch 1/4 inch on either side of the drawn line. Cut on the line, iron to the darker color, and VIOLA! You will have two corners for your window frame. Your border length would be just the same length as your picture.
Match the dark color to the dark sash and stitch your HST to that piece. Stitch the lighter color on first, and then stitch on your dark sashing with the HST (half square triangle) attached ... on to the square - - and your first "attic window" will be complete! <wave>

I like this idea!

ok will try the light on the top and left side and the dark on the bottom and right side so if I do that then on the next block will the light be on the same side as the first panel and butt up to the dark fabric or do you put a different color between the two I am telling you I feel really stupid or my blonde is actually starting to show..lol

http://quilterscache.com/images16/ru...%20Windows.jpg

Here is a sample of four attic window blocks together.

This is one possibility, but isn't the attic windows ... by now, you have seen my last post, so I am going to hang around and see if you saw anything you liked in the sample website I sent. Otherwise, you and I will have to discuss this other thing.
You aren't having a blonde moment - - you are understanding what I was saying BEFORE I knew you wanted to do attic windows! LOL
See? It isn't anything wrong with you! You are doing fine. It is going to be a GREAT quilt! <wave>

I went to the site www.quiltblocksgalore.com and looked at the attic window and tried that but couldnt get my corner to come out so I actually thought about cutting squares and making my triangle pcs that was so it would be more like sewing on a square instead of a triangle..but I am not sure but I am not sure how much of the panels to cut down to get them to look right someone said about losing most of the white so if I do that then will lose some of the picture but I guess it wont make much difference since it is a window scene..(Right)

You have the idea for making the HST for the corners exactly correct.
Before you trim, just how unsquare are they? Eleanor Burns says if it is 1/4" or less, you can stretch it to fit, and I have had to do that on some pretty fancy quilts <g> <wave>

HOld it!
I just went back to the first picture, and I was looking at a rectangle ... nothing says that the picture has to be square ... all that is necessary is that the sides be straight .. I have seen rectangular windows, have you? <wave>

I will try and get one or two done this wk and post it. It all depends on my hours at work if I work 12's the wont get done...lol
I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR TRYING TO HELP THIS PERSON THAT FEELS REALLY DUMB....I AM PROBABLY MAKING IT HARDER THEN IT ACTUALLY IS THAT WOULD BE BE...BUT SERIOUSLY THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH WILL POST MORE WHEN I GET THEM DONE..

Well, that is what we are here for!
Maybe, while you are working, I will pull some blocks and see if I can't make some pictoral samples of what we have discussed this day, but I really do want to know:
Are the blocks rectangular?
I don't remember - - did you say they were all the same size, but just not square?
maybe - - you could post a picture of four of them lying side by side ( in a four patch, sort of) so I can understand, whether the issue is "square" vs rectangular ... or misshaped.
I can assure you of this!
When you get done asking all of the questions you need to get your project accomplished, you will be just amazed at how much you grew!
Life is sort of like that, you know? <wave> :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: We are all on your side. ;-)

The pieces are 11" wide by 9"tall and my strips are 3 inches wide so now I cant figure out the darn HST for when I make them 3" like the strips and mark the line in the middle from corner to corner then stitch 1/4 inch on each side of line my HST's when sewn together come up short so do I have to make my squares for the HST 3.5 inches

as long as the pieces are straight sided, I wouldn't trim, just make your windows that size.
So your strips are three inches BEFORE you sew them in? or after you sew them in ...
The width of the strip minus half an inch will give you the finished size of your strip.
To get your HST with this technique ... add ONE inch to the finished size of your strip ... that is the size to cut your squares ... you will end up trimming some of your HST, but that one inch is necessary for that added angle.
Suppose you can't figure out the finished size of your strip ...
well, then consider the cut size of your strip and cut squares that size PLUS one inch ... then do the line and 1/4" stitching on each side of the line. <wave>

Why am I feeling so stupid I guess it is alot of the reason because I have never did HST and or anything this advanced in quilting I have always did the easy squares or something like that so on the HST do I have to trim the tip to have them lay right or will they be ok

The reason you will trim the HST is because with the 1" added, especially, it will be a little bigger than you need.
But, it is easier to cut an even size than those 1/8ths things, so I recommend the 1" bigger and trim down.
Maybe I need to find you some technique boards to show you what I am talking about. <wave>
Off to find some good technique charts for you <g> you are doing fine. take a deep breath and get a cup of coffee or something <g>