designthoughts

I’m not sure where this is going to go. I wanted to think it out carefully, but the eye troubles have occupied my mind and time. I do want to get some thoughts down for you, and it keeps my mind off of this afternoon’s appointment to see if laser surgery will be needed. Anyway, here goes…

If you got through the various steps of the project to arrive at the completed basic quilt top, you can see that it is nothing more than a series of rectangular pieces joined together. If you think of it in terms of units, as I did, you have two vertical units (Units 1 and 2) and two almost square units, (Units 3 and 4). You could rearrange these units in all kinds of ways. Units 3 and 4 could be on the bottom or top, with Units 1 and 2 becoming horizontal units. Or, you could put 3 and 4 in the corners, cut the vertical units to fill in the space above and below them and sew it that way.

One problem I had in setting up these instructions for you (and I apoligize that it wasn’t a better job) is that I started out working from Ann’s original needlepoint. I carefully calculated area’s and percentages of coverage and tried to work from that to determine the piece sizes. It made a hard job of what could have been easy. Worst of all, it ended up with odd sizes that didn’t need to be odd. The worst of this was that the “almost squares”, Units 3 and 4, could easily have been squares. Instead of being 23 1/2” x 24 1/2” and 25 1/2” x 24 1/2”, they could have been perfect squares. Oh, well.

Now, as I worked with this, I began to see all kinds of possibilities, and realized just how easily an interesting variable rectangle quilt can be designed. It all boils down to two very simple rules, which I am going to share with you. Those of you who already know this will want to say, “Well, duh!” Go right ahead. I figured it out and I’m taking credit anyway… so there!

Obviously, there is nothing terribly difficult about joining rectangles, as compared to many quilt patterns… no points to match, no insets, etc. The only thing that you can run afoul of is not having your pieces finish up in the rectangular size you planned. That’s where the rules comes in, and here they are:

Let me give you the example that led me to this revelation. I had done Units 1 and 2, the verticals, carefully calculating their length and designing the pieces to match the proportions of Ann’s work. Dumb! They are just verticals to get pieces of color in… they could be any length at all. I did the same thing with Unit 3, the upper “square that isn’t quite a square”… mathematically calculating that this color was this percentage of the that area on Ann’s work, and should therefore be this long and wide on mine. Again, the only need was to get a nice mix of colors in. By slavishly copying Ann’s work, I ended up with all kinds of fractional proportions of this and that.

When it came time to do Unit 4, my eye was already acting up and my poor math challenged brain was tired. I wasn’t coming up with the answers. In order to help organize my thoughts, I decided to just draw out a plan of what I needed, as to shapes, and then put in whole numbers, adjusting the sizes so that any fractions were eliminated in the planning. I still had to deal with the fact that in order to come out right, Unit 4 had to be the rather odd size of 23” high, in order to accommodate the fact that Unit 3 was 25” high (disregarding seam allowances.) However, I could still work in whole numbers.

I sketched out the pattern needed, then quickly calculated some workable dimensions… in my head! No fractions, no perctages. Just, “Yeah, that’s about right.” Here is the little sketch that resulted:

Note that I established that my finished size EXCLUSIVE OF SEAM ALLOWANCES (yes, I shouted that) is established as 23” x 24”. I divided the simple “square” into segments that roughly matched the distribution on Ann’s work, and just assigned them values that would work. On the left, vertically, 17 and 6 equal 23. In the middle, the full vertical piece is also 23. On the right, 6 plus 6 plus 11 equal 23. OK, vertically, these pieces will equal the 23” dimension I need. Horizontally, you have four 6” widths, equaling the 24” needed. Look, ma, it’s the pattern I need!

OK, that dealt with Rule 1. We planned in whole numbers. Now for Rule 2. In measuring and cutting out the plan pieces, add 1/2” to each dimension, i.e. the seam allowances. If you cut the pieces as follows:

6 1/2” x 12 1/2” one piece
6 1/2” x 17 1/2” two pieces
6 1/2” x 23 1/2” one piece
6 1/2” x 6 1/2” two pieces
6 1/2” x 11 1/2” one piece

and join them together in the planned pattern, your joining seams are going to leave you with a piece that is 23 1/2” x 24 1/2”… exactly what you actually need to add into the project pattern.

Now, had I discovered this approach earlier, I would have adjusted Units 3 and 4 so that they were both a planned size of 24 x 24. It would have made things a little bit easier.

The needlepoint work we "duplicated" as our first quilt top.

Ann's second needlepoint, which would have been our second top (still can be if you want it) but which I am suggesting you replace with a design of your own.

If you look at Ann’s first work, it is easy to see that it is a pattern of variable rectangles… two tall skinny rectangles and two essentially square rectangles. Each rectangle is made up of a sub-pattern of rectangles. You can vary all of these combinations any way you want. Let’s say you wanted a regular shaped quilt instead of a square one. You could simply extend the tall skinny rectangles, Units 1 and 2, and add a third square unit, a Unit 5, in the middle. Or, you could stretch Units 3 and 4. You can do anything you want! You can plan your own interesting quilt patterns, and know that they will be quick and easy to make and will come out right if you cut and sew right. The second work is the same principle, just some minor variations in the dimensions of rectangles within the sub-assemblies.

In our project, we left a very large plain area, to which decoration will be added. On Ann's needlepoint, the decoration is large pansies, but this decoration could be anything you like. In our case, I will be teaching you to make pansy appliqués to add flowers. You could add any appliqué you want. You could also use that blank area for a more complex quilt pattern. Let’s say there is a complex pattern you want to try, but you don’t want to spend your life making a whole quilt of it. Plan a variable rectangle quilt with a blank area, make one large quilt block, and use it as the blank area rectangle. Or, make four of the block and you come close to having made a quilt of the fancy block, even though you have filled in the rest of the area with easy rectangles. You could center the four blocks, or scatter them. Here is an example:

Lets say this is a 24” square and you used a large quilt block for the center of the big square. Let’s further say you made four units like this. If you set them up as a big square, with the quilt blocks in the middle and the area surrounding each quilt block all the same color or pattern, it would appear, or “read”, as a 48” square quilt with a sashed center. If you wanted a bigger quilt, say you made this a 36” square… you would have a 72” quilt top… border that woth an extra round or two and you have a full sized quilt! You could also design a pair of middle blocks that were not the full size… just the quilt block field and outer edges. Inserted in the middle, this would give you a rectangular, as opposed to square, quilt with six large blocks in the middle. As I said, you can do anything you want, making simple combinations of blocks or complex ones. Use several different patterns of blocks, or use just one that is irregular, but rotate is as you put them in for a varied effect. No matter what you do, as long as you plan in whole numbers and cut with seam allowances, it will work out.

As I did this page, it occured to me that once long ago, I came up with a simple rectangle block and let the group in a nice quilt project based on it. It was called "Captain Dick's Courtyard" and, in a way, it represents maybe the simplest application of this concept. The blocks were small and repetitive, and weren't arranged in any complex manner, just staggered, but the effect did show what can be done with a simple concept. This quilt is still up in The Quilt Shop, as "1999 Summer Mystery Quilt".

Another application here would be a super fast special theme quilt… Want a quilt for hubby’s hunting cabin? Use green and brown or tree and plant prints for the small squares, a neutral for the large plain filed, and a large scale print of a bear or a moose or something for the center square. A quilt for a little boy’s room? Same thing… maybe race car prints for the small squares and a large scale print for the middle. Sports teams, Raggedy Ann and Andy prints, whatever. Got a 4H kid… yellows and greens and a John Deere print in the middle.

Note: This is a few days later (the eye is improving) and I have had some assistance from Mary Waller, who took the above sketch and did a nicer version on Electric Quilt. I took her work and added some theme decoration, and here are some of the things that resulted:

Whoa! Look what Mary did by simply taking that block and putting a bunch of them in different positions!

You could go even crazier and make odd sized units, i.e. combine two units, put a different pattern in the resulting rectangle, then insert it in place of two of the standard units. Think of what was done with the two center units of the original project.

I mentioned the possibilities that exist here for making quick versions of quilts with complex blocks, and theme quilts. Here are two examples I did in which I used large versions of the simple block, but added applique... in this case Sunbonnet Sue:

Here is a quick "square" Sue quilt. Make the size whatever you want, using our "Plan in Whole Numbers" rule.

Here is the same concept using six units, so that you get a normal bed-shaped quilt.

Note on this one that some adjustment would improve the "border" squares. The undersized yellow pieces resulted from my cutting and pasting.

Ann just pointed out how totally great this would look if you used the blue that is around the Sue Squares to add an additional border! Wow!

Ann even suggested that it could be neat to use embroidery, or even needlepoint, in the centers! Think of this as a setting for Redwork.

Picture this same approach with an Ohio Star block used in the centers in place of the Sunbonnet Sue. Picture a quilt with four very complex large flower applique blocks in the centers, and all of the surrounding rectangles made up of smaller flower prints. Folks, your imagination is your only limit here, and as long as you stick to the design concepts, you will be making a fast, simple quilt, with the possible exception of the centers, which you can make as complex or as simple as you like. I can think of half a dozen blocks I have always wanted to play with, but never had the desire to sit down and spend three months making a whole quilt of. This is a way to have the experiencee of making the block, putting it into a quick quilt pattern and then moving on.

Between studying the MQ project instructions and results, the pictures of Ann’s needlepoint, and this discussion, you should be able to plan your own Variable Rectangle Quilt, and that is what I challenge you to do.

Rather than me working out all the dimensions for the second quilt, you do it. Work from Ann’s second work, work from your own ideas, do whatever, but please, complete the top at least and send me a picture. I will give everyone till the end of March… and yes, I will nag… to finish something and send me pictures. Those who do will see their work posted on a display of the results of all this effort.