That was the challenge issued to members by our local modern group, the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild. There were no rules about how to make the Churn Dash quilt block “modern.” And no rules on what form one’s project should take. A simple one-block effort? A table runner? A quilt?
Here’s what I spent many happy hours this past month playing with and doing–after turning over ideas in my head and on paper for some months. My Vermont friend noted that the Tara Faughnan online “block playing” class that I did last winter–with my friend for company–was a factor in this top. I agree. For sure. I just did one block at a time–after the center block–and played with color and shapes. So many of these blocks totally surprised me. I’m pretty sure I could have kept going and making yet another block.
The Churn Dash block is a 9-patch block. There are 9 blocks in my top–so they make up a 9-patch top–and I set the blocks off-center and alternated the grey field fabrics.
I started with the center block, which is a recognizable Churn Dash block–only it also has the “Cat’s Cradle” block at the corners. (Thanks to fellow quilter Rick Sanchez’s demonstration for me of the ruler that makes this block so beautifully.) I love this “Cat’s Cradle” block.
Each block has a center at the center–except for the upper left, top row lime green block which has its smaller center displaced to the left. This block was the last one I made, so there was a progression toward not having the center at the center I can now see and understand.
Each block has the two-color side pieces that surround the “normal” center–but they take different forms (4-patch checkerboards, half-square rectangles, curves, and stripes). These units are often displaced in the 9-patch block. (I used Latifah Safari’s “Hurty” ruler to make the half-square rectangles and can’t wait to use that ruler some more.)
Each block has a form of the half-square triangle on the corners. Some are curved and some are Cat’s Cradle blocks and many are displaced to other spots in a 9-patch block.
I have pieced a backing from leftover pieces of the Carrie Blomton “newsprint fabric.” So I will probably load this quilt on the longarm soon. And I did make this top totally out of my solid stash.
I like, so much, the pantograph I used for the Prickly Pear quilt, but I wanted a version where the lines are further apart. So I talked to the very nice woman at Urban Elementz this morning, to get some help about how to order that panto in a wider size.
Now, to get the leader/ender quilt off the design wall…
LOL, I need 9 more blocks. And talk about scrappy!! It is fun though. I do now see in this picture the “out of order” block and will fix it later–a great argument for taking pictures and looking at them before anything gets set in stone. It will be 72-inches square, so a nice lap quilt.
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