Some Bloggy Hoppin Fun!

My exciting news for the week is that I have a block appearing in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol. 8 that's hitting news stands this month!

This is my little block called Citrus Rainbow.  It's Block #753 and can be found on page 50 of volume 8 (Right in the middle of the issue conveniently located by the pattern pull-out page).

It's pretty easy to make ~ wedges are cut from strip sets either by using a wedge ruler, or the wedge templates are included in the pull-out pattern section of the magazine.

I thought I'd share one of the things I like to do to play with layout design choices using a single block.  This can be done easily by anyone, even if you don't have design software on your computer...or like me, you don't want to take way more time to learn how to load this block in the software than it would to actually play with designs...or like me you once knew how to do that, but would need to take an entire day to figure out how to do it again...

...So anyway, first you just copy about 16 copies of the little block shown in the magazine.  (You can either copy it multiple times, or scan it once and plop 16 of them on one page and print that page out).  Then you cut them out so you have 16 little paper quilt blocks to play with like the ones shown above.   

Now you have what my grand daughter calls quilt puzzle pieces, and it's time to play...

By just laying them out in different orientations you can easily experiment with different looks...

...and combinations of row and column settings.  These are just a few ideas.  Try laying them out on colored paper and leave gaps between blocks to get an idea of how sashings and/or borders would look with the block. 

**Don't forget to snap a photo of any combinations that you like, especially if you're changing them around to a lot ~ it's easy to forget that really cute design that you liked, but now can't remember what you did (ask me how I know that). 

Then when you're done with them, the kiddos will spend hours "designing" with their quilt puzzle, allowing you time to actually start cutting out your fabrics...Win - Win!

Now for some Bloggy-Hoppin fun!  Head over to the Spring Water Designs website and peruse the   patterns.  Then come back and leave a comment on this blog post letting us know which is your favorite Spring Water Designs pattern (Hint: you can view some pattern designs on the home page, or the patterns, or kits pages on the website).  On Sunday the 17th, one name will be drawn from the comments to receive a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol. 8 magazine, and Two more winners will be drawn to receive a copy of their favorite Spring Water Designs pattern :)

Don't forget to follow along on the 100 Blocks Blog Tour daily November 11th - 15th at The Quiltmaker Blog to see other great blocks, ideas, and even more give aways!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn