Quiltingboard Forums - 13 Ways to Make Differant Looking Quilt Blocks from One Quilt Block Pattern

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I have shortcut methods I call my cut down methods. Using this idea I have several units I call "Blocks"
The shortcut method or cut down method means you cut swatches of fabric. Sew them together and then cut out a square from the center. Saves time and effort and allows you to make intricate looking quilt blocks with easy steps. Great for beginners.

so I was playing with a quilt block and I want to show you how you can take one Quilt Block and turn the blocks to make 13 differant looks with the same 16 "Blocks" this "Block" is made with my Wings Block.

You can find the directions for making this "Block" here
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-60682-1.htm

You will need templates and especially my 30 degree angle template. So you can email me at [email protected] or pm me. I will be happy to send them to you for free. I need your postal address. PLEASE DON"T POST personal info on the open forum!!

After I post all the quilt blocks and layouts I will show you how to take one quilt block and by changing colors you can make new looks just by using color in differant ways.
This is important to now so when you choose your fabrics you will have the look you want in your finished product. The way you use light dark and medium fabrics is very important. You have to be aware of how one plays againts another color. You need to decide if you want stong contrast or if you want the fabrics to blend together. So I will show you some examples of good choices and bad choices at least in my opinion!

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions! Thanks Rhonda

Block 4

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Block 4 layout

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This is the Wings Block. It looks hard but it isn't!! Once you learn to make these you can make all sorts of great patterns!

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Block 1 The original quilt block I started with

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Block 1 layout

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Block 2 All I did was turn the blocks around

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Block 2 layout

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Block 3

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Layout 3

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Block 5 layout

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Block 5 -- LOL this one makes me think of teeth! LOL

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Block 6

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Block 6 layout

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Block 7

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Block 7 layout

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Block 8

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Block 8 layout

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Block 9

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Block 9 layout

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Block 10

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Block 10 layout

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Block 11

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Block 11 layout

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Block 12

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Block 12 layout

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Block 13

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Block 13 layout

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WOW!! That is really cool. I am bookmarking this! Thank you so much for sharing.

Cool Rhonda, very cool. Has any one told you that #9 looks like pac man?

Now for the fun part!! LOL I love color!! So when you add color you gain a whole new world of possibilities.

Where you choose to put the colors and how you choose to layer color values or the differant hues of one color makes alot of differance in how your quilt block looks. You can choose large print or small print or anything in between. but the important part is how much differance there is betwee two colors that are close together. You can highlight a part of the quilt block or make part of it fade into the background depending on where you put color. So understanding the use of color in your quilt block will help you get a better looking quilt block in the end.

Here I will show you some of the ways I would use color and then I will show you some of the ways I think are not effective. But it is really all in your eye and what you want your quilt block to look like.

Look at Block 12 above, Here I chose to add differant colors in what I see as butterflies in this design.

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Here is the same block but I used solid black in the two corners instead of the wing blocks

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Here I used the same arrangement of colors as above but I changed the center blocks to lt blue as well. This has the effect of making the outer blue and the inner blue recede into the background and makes the darker /brighter colors pop out more.If I had used the same lt blue in the center it would have blended more with the corner blues. As it is this color of blue makes the center blue step down a bit but not all the way in the back ground.

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These colors are ok but not anything to write home about in my opinion. But it is all in the eye of the beholder!!

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This started as Block 3 above. Here I decided to put two colors in opposite corners. I really like these colors. They really make the design stand out!

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This color choice is ok but I think it is only ok.

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This one is acceptable but in my opinion it all blends together too much for me. But if you were doing a tone on tone type of quilt you might like this color set.

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So here I went back to the black and used brights. Very effective for high contrast. May be too bright.

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When you change dark to light you get a diferant look to the quilt block You can direct the eye to differant parts of the quilt block by where you choose to put the color and what value of that color you use(light or dark etc) You can see I used lilght blue in place of the black on the corners which made the pink/yellow corners take on a differant look. They are now the outer edge of the design instead of being in the middle of the design.

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Here you can see the effect I was talking about. This looks to me like the dark blue/pink/yellow lays ontop of a lt blue background square.

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This one look at the yellow and green in the middle of the sides.

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Here I want you to see the sides where the yellow and green were half and half. Now I changed the colors so the yellow is at the bottom of those two blocks and the green is the center like a diamond

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Here is another color choice for this quilt block. I want you to notice that the colors I used for the yellow parts blend together,. Here I wanted to get the box like effect of those parts of the quilt block so I used two colors that would blend. When I used contrasting colors I didn't like it because it was too seperate looking.

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Here is the color combo I don't like,. The blue is too dark and is not a print fabric so it over powers the yellow print.

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Ok LOL back to my original train of thought! This is my favorite color arrangement for this block. I think it is so elegant looking!

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Here I used the dark pink with the dark blue and they coexist much better as they are the same type of fabric. In this case I want the box (the dk blue and dk pink lines make me think of a box around the center design)to show up and if I use two fabrics for it they need to play nice together. since I used the dark pink I didn't want the dk pink in the middle. so I changed it to yellow and wanted to show y ou how you can use two colors in the corner blocks. If I use a color in the center then I need to bring that color out somewhere else in the design. So I put it in the corners. It gives it a 9 patch look if you look at only the yellow parts. 4 yellows on the corners and the ones in the middle are 5 areas of yellow in the same way as a 9 patch.

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Ok Back to this block. I started with this block.

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SueDor, I was going to say the exact same thing. It does look like PacMan.

Rhonda,

You ROCK as a teacher!!!!!!!!

Thank you for this tute. I'm looking forward to next Friday.

MerryLou

Ok now here is another train of thought I wanted to show you.

I started with this block

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Then I turned the blocks to this quilt block

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Then I turned the center blocks only to this pattern

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Now I saw the egg shaped areas in the center and thought I would change the colors there. But I didn't like the looks of it.

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I turned the blocks again but this is really one I DON"T like!!! This one is not a good one to use at all!!!

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Here is another color choice for this block but it still isn't one I would use.

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Here I turned the top row and the bottom row dk pink and the lt yellow I turned it green. These look like space ships to me! The kind they had in asteroids - one of the old arcade games

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Space ships anyone?? LOL I do think this one would make a great space ship quilt for a kid!!

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You added another one since I saw this earlier. this is really really neat. Thank you again so much for sharing this technique! The sixth one down on the second set, the gold one, looks like a sun rise to me. It made me think of a beautiful morning!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matilda

WOW!! That is really cool. I am bookmarking this! Thank you so much for sharing.

Thanks Matilda I will have to go look for the sunrise! I didn't notice that effect.

Wow...these are so neat looking!

Rhonda that is just so neat how color and a simple block can change in so many ways. I think I'm going to have to go load EQ6 onto my new computer and play with this....lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by SueDor

Cool Rhonda, very cool. Has any one told you that #9 looks like pac man?

Noone has said anything yet but I did one for the Sampler Quilt Along that is strongly pacman looking!!

This one is a Drunkard's Path instead of Wings I guess but I can see the pacmans eating the squares! LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady with Thread

Rhonda that is just so neat how color and a simple block can change in so many ways. I think I'm going to have to go load EQ6 onto my new computer and play with this....lol

This is my favorite way to play!!! I would rather be doing this on my EQ than sewing! LOL LOL I love to design. It is just too much fun!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by merrylouw

Rhonda,

You ROCK as a teacher!!!!!!!!

Thank you for this tute. I'm looking forward to next Friday.

MerryLou

Thank you so much Merrylou!

But Wait !!! There MUST be MORE !!!

Where are the instructions for the block?

Quote:

Originally Posted by gingerella

But Wait !!! There MUST be MORE !!!

Where are the instructions for the block?

Gingerella there is a link at the beginnning above that you can click on go to the directions for making the Wings block. If you have any questions I will be happy to help!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhonda

Quote:

Originally Posted by gingerella

But Wait !!! There MUST be MORE !!!

Where are the instructions for the block?

Gingerella there is a link at the beginnning above that you can click on go to the directions for making the Wings block. If you have any questions I will be happy to help!

Yes, and excellent instructions they are!

I found your wing block instructions a while back and keep experimenting with the method. It is so neat. Your color theory is also right on the mark. I have been collecting block designs for practice and for a sampler quilt. After a while, I put several color variations of the same block side by side. Sometimes, it takes looking twice to recognize blocks as being the same geometric design.

I wanted to at least say thanks once for all your efforts to help us newcomers. Your tutorials are marvelous. Publishing them here is very generous!

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2ursula

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhonda

Quote:

Originally Posted by gingerella

But Wait !!! There MUST be MORE !!!

Where are the instructions for the block?

Gingerella there is a link at the beginnning above that you can click on go to the directions for making the Wings block. If you have any questions I will be happy to help!

Thank you Ursula

Wonderful as always Rhonda. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks ladies. I went back and re-read the first paragraph and checked out how the block was made. Very interesting results I must say - your "quilts" are absolutely terrific !

Quote:

Originally Posted by gingerella

Thanks ladies. I went back and re-read the first paragraph and checked out how the block was made. Very interesting results I must say - your "quilts" are absolutely terrific !

Thank you Little Hud and Gingerella. This is my favorite thing to do. I love sharing and I love designing.

Rhonda you are so great to share this with us. I have learned a lot from you and am sure I will continue learning. You make things so easy to understand.

Oh, the possibilities. I'm bookmarking this.

Wonderful information,Thanks

Thank you for posting such a detailed post.

Fascinating. Will add these instructions to my list of things I hope to try in the near future. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Thanks for sharing! Fabulous - shows us all how arranging and rearranging repeatedly can yield many different results. Great fun :-D

Thank you so much for taking the time to show all the pictures and explain your technique. This is so very helpful for a newbie like me! I'm certainly bookmarking this for sure!

Thank you so much for all the time you spent on this for us. What a wonderful thing to do. I've already bookmarked the page and PM'd you. Now I just need to print out the directions. Thanks again for such a detailed "tutorial"!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by quiltingranny

thank you all for your kind words. Actually when I am sewing something or designing something I am thinking through the steps and in my mind I am saying ok now you need to tack this or you need to watch out for this etc. It is funny! I now think in teacher mode alot of the time! LOL So writing this is downloading my brain! :XD: :XD: :XD: I am clearing out the thoughts that have been lurking!! LOL I have been thinking about doing this color play for quite awhile. I actually have another more intricate looking block that I plan to post too soon. I played with color on it and it fascinates me how much it changes the look when you make small changes in color and placement. Sooooo much fun to explore the possibilities!!!

This is great. Thanks for sharing.

I'm already looking forward to your next block post!!!!!

I went to bed to early last night. But glad I saw this first thing today. These are just so neat. I have a question though, in your directions for the wing block. That ends up making 2 1/2" blocks which would make an 8" 4x4 block, right? I started making the wk 16 block yesterday, and my brain is still dead. Trying to make a 12" 4x4 block. I know if I just did sqaures, each sqaure would be 3 1/2", but the original cutting piece has to be larger, and the 30 degree temp is 3 in. Should I just add 1/2 all around or maybe make it 4" to start. Am I making any sense? Help.

these are absolutely lovely,and it looks like you are having lots of fun too!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by klgreene

Kl Did I send you a 3 1/2' template with a grid and a 4 1/2" with the 30 degree score?

You will need to cut your swatches 2 (for the body of the block) need to be 6 1/2" x 4" and the other 2 (the wings) need to be 6" x 2 3/4". You will still have a bit of leftover but you can recycle them.
Then the template to cut the actual block is a 3 1/2"

I guess I needed to actually do one of these. I thought I had the math figured out on them but it wasn't quite right. This time the numbers are right.

You will need the 3 1/2" and 4 1/2" and a 6 1/2" ruler. I don't send out the 6 1/2" as any ruler will work for that part. But if you need the other two let me know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacie

these are absolutely lovely,and it looks like you are having lots of fun too!!

Oh I did and I do!! This is my favorite part of quilting aside from seeing something all done. I hate hate hate the process of sewing the blocks together LOL but it is a necessary evil to get to the end!! I love to design and I love to see the finished project but the middle is my least favorite part!!!

Awesome!!!!!! i will need to make this block

tea

I PM.d you for the templates,can hardly wait to try some of the layouts...jacie