I would keep the pattern simple not just for time's sake but so that on her worst day (nauseated, recovering from treatment,etc) she has a soothing color palette and nothing busy. Cheery but not busy. Just my 2 cents. I was thinking a simple 9 patch if you need it quick.

BQ, BQ2, & BQ3...these are all great and fast......

I watched the video and loved it!

Dina....Love this idea. Very pretty!! If using 5 different fabrics, how many yards would I get?

Oh dear, I just used from my stash. If you are going with the 42 block (starting with ten inch squares) you would need 9 squares of each 5 fabrics( 42 by 5 is "close" to nine), so you would need 30 inches of each, plus more for binding and borders. I would buy a yard of each, plus more for borders.

If you are going with the 30 block size, you would need less....20 inches of each...though I would buy extra, plus more for borders and bindings.

I think this would work. Each block is 10 by 10 before you cut it down farther....do watch the video, it makes it very easy to understand. If your fabric is 42 inches, you can get four squares in ten inches....ten for each four blocks you want. Just cut blocks 10 by 10 until you have 42...or 30...then just follow the vidoe. You wouldn't even need equal amounts of each fabric.

Hope this helps. LIke I said, it is easy to put together and looks good.

Dina

Make this in adult color fabric with bigger squares: http://www.quiltmaker.com/patterns/details.html?idx=184
Fastest quilt I ever made other then a rag quilt.

I absolutely agree with alikat110. The original BQ (Big quilt block) is my fastest quilt. It takes longer to cut the material than it does to sew it together. I am slow at sewing & can sew all the blocks for a large lap in one afternoon. I'm, also, not that good at picking colors. It's a whole lot easier when you need 1 focus fabric & two other colors. Of course, you can make the big blocks of more fabrics than just one. DO NOT get a directional fabric for any of these 3 choices!!!! Ask me how I figured this out???

I would use a soothing floral print in large squares say 18" and just frame each block with a matching solid color and then add borders. You want to get it to her as soon as possible, I assume. It is the thought that will mean the most to her and she can think of your friendship each time she uses it for comfort.

I made a quilt for one of my friends before she went in for her first chemo treatment that was all HSTs. I started out with 10" squares, and squared the HSTs to 9". Each was dark gray on one half and a cheery color on the other half, mostly in yellows. I called it her sunshine and shadows quilt to remind her that life was filled with both and this was just one of the shadows she had to go through to get to the sunshine. She has now been cancer free for over 5 years.

Disappearing 9-patch is my go-to pattern for quick quilts.