Before we let Quilt Dad take over, we have a few things to say. As you might expect.
Hello, Crafterhours readers! My name is John and I blog over at QuiltDad. If you’ve never visited my blog before, please swing by and say “hello”.
As you may know, I am participating in the Spoonflower I Spy swap here on Crafterhours, and I haven’t been this excited about a swap in a long time! I am absolutely smitten with Spoonflower and the opportunity that it’s giving to artists and crafters to more personally bring their visions to life. I love all of the independent artists that are creating such cool, fun designs. It really opens up a whole new world of possibilities for sewers and quilters … like us!
I emailed Susan and Adrianna a couple of weeks back and asked if we would be sharing quilt layout ideas for all of the awesome 5″ squares we’ll be receiving as part of the swap. I should’ve known better. The response was, “what a great idea! Why don’t you write a guest post on Crafterhours and start the conversation?”
So that’s why I am here, and the topic of this post. Have any of you fellow swappers started considering how you will use the squares you receive? I’ve been thinking about it some (it’s a great way to pass the time while Spoonflower is printing all of our fabrics!), and I rounded up a few pieces of inspiration. Take a look at the photos below, and be sure to share your additional ideas in the comments!
Hmmmm … now how can I get S & A to amend their tagline to “sleeping babes. crafting moms & dads”??
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OK, so my first idea was to feature the charm squares in rows, separated by solid color bars with lots of white (or gray, or blue) space, similar to this beautiful quilt made by Jona of Fabritopia fame:
Of course, a straight-up patchwork layout is always classic:
I recently met the supremely talented Cherri House and have had many of her City Quilts patterns on my brain. This one in particular could lend itself nicely to charm squares:
What do you guys think about snowballs? This easy block is a fun way to use I Spy prints with a little more visual interest.
Wonky stars are always a popular block choice over in the Flickr groups. This beginner-friendly block is a lot of fun when the center features a novelty print, like this example by MimiPark:
Here’s a Chinese-coin inspired layout suitable for charm squares:
Ah, an old favorite – wonky square-in-square blocks a la Denyse Schmidt:
I’ve always loved this layout, which I believe is from a pattern called “Slide Show”:
I Spy houses … what a great idea!
Here are a few more inspiration quilts, all pulled from the I SPY quilts group on Flickr:
So what do you think? See any patterns that you’d like to try?
Thanks, John/Quilt Dad/Mr. Incredible! And we’d be happy to make it “sleeping babes. crafting moms and DAD.” Singular. Bahahaha!
Oh how this makes me want to go quilt :) I love the wuilt by Jona!! Beautiful colors and I am really wanting to make a quilt with lots of white in it. I think it makes all the funs colored fabrics stand out more. Maybe my bed needs a quilt!!! Now what fabric should I use??!!
Wow, I am not even participating lol but I have to say that Jona and Cherri House’s are amazing!
WOW these are some beautiful quilts!!! Thanks for the inspiration, John!! I can’t wait to get my fabrics in the mail, cut them, and send them off!!!
kris
everywhereorange.blogspot.com
And here I though I already had my mind made up on my quilt design!! How inspiring! I’ve been leaning towards the ‘rainbow’ patchwork of colors… now I’m thinking I might want to put some borders around…?
Thanks for the inspiration! I cannot wait to see what everyone creates with the fabrics!
Thank you John!! What a treat to have my very first quilt in such fine company!! I really love Cherri’s quilt. It reminds me of a tile mosaic. She has such a stylish, clean look.
This is great! Thanks for sharing. I’m actually in the process of making the SlideShow quilt for my niece as part of the Chinese tradition of the “100 Wishes” Quilt…
I can’t believe that was Jona’s first quilt! It’s my fave and probably going to become my inspiration.
IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE! My Spoonflower package just arrived:):):)
Thanks for all the inspiration – that first one is amazing. I was thinking of doing a disappearing 9 patch a la obsessively stitching, but now I am not sure!
hhmmm I thought I would be going in one direction, but with all these amazing ideas..I just don’t know anymore. Is there such a think as too many options?
I found your blog via John’s tweet. Love your blog! Love your name. Love this post! Don’t mind me. I’m just having my own little Saturday afternoon love fest.
The love fest continues…
And I love John, and Jona, and Cherri. And I love your header. I love your tag line.
And now I’m off to go annoy another blog.