August – Wonky Stripe Block

Hi girls,

What a treat to be inspired and challenged every month via our quilting bee, and now it’s my pleasure to host the month of August.

The inspiration for my collaborative quilt comes from the book The Modern Quilting Bee Block Party by Alissa Haight Carlton and Kristen Lejniek. I love the open-endedness of the design and as I have never made a free form quilt before I thought our quilting bee would be the perfect place to start.

I ask that you create a strip of stripes showcasing a fun mix of floral and geometric patterns, dots, stripes and solids in red, white and aqua pieced together with a simple white background. This block can use up some of your favourite scraps. 

This block is a simple design and I ask that you create 2 different blocks (see variations below).

To give you an idea of the quilt design, here are 3 different blocks together. There won’t be any sashing between the blocks.

Fabrics and colour:

Red, white and aqua (floral and geometric patterns, dots, stripes and solids)

Solid white for background fabric 14" x 14"

Some of the fabrics I chose for my block:

Construction:

Makes 1 finished 13" x 13" block with 1 striped strip.

1. Cut the 14" white background square into 2 rectangles (of any size).  Cut the fabrics (red, white and aqua) into rectangles that are at least 3 ½" wide and vary in height.

2. Sew the coloured strips together into a strip that is at least 14" long.

3. Trim the edges so that they are straight and parallel.

4. Sew the pieced strip between the white background fabric. Trim the block to 13" x 13".

Variations:

Here are some suggestions to add some variety to the block. And, of course your own creative ideas are welcome too J

2 pieced strips

You can choose to make the block with 2 pieced strips. They can be wider or narrower. Simply cut the white background fabric into 3 rectangles and follow directions above, leaving at least 1 edge of the block white.

Vertical stripes

You can choose to add some vertical stripes to your pieced strip. Also, you might notice that my skinny stripe is narrower than 3 ½". 

What I enjoyed the most was the process of selecting and organising the layout of fabrics, experimenting with the free form style, as well as deciding on the variations between my blocks.

I am looking forward to hearing from you all and seeing what you come up with. 

Hope you’re enjoying balmy summer days and nights in the Northern hemisphere….if you’re away on vacation, enjoy and we will hear from you once you return home and begin quilting again!!

And for our quilters based in Switzerland, bonne fete nationale - 1^st August!!

Thank you in advance my fellow quilting bee friends.

Chris