Patchwork Oasis

Thank you very much for your indignation and sympathy as I shared the last few chapters of Eleni’s story last week. This community has truly been a comfort, and words cannot convey how much it means that her story has been heard in this space. My gratitude to each of you.

Today I’m glad to return to our favorite subject. It’s good to wrap myself in the comfortable rhythm of daily life. Luckily that means quilt-making and writing about it too!

Do you remember these blocks?

It was about a month ago that I began to turn the fabric swatch groupings I made for my book, The Quilter’s Field Guide to Color, into 12-patch blocks in a 3 x 4 layout. Each block is punctuated by a square of that black/white Starry print to visually connect the dots.

Sewing these blocks is like sipping a cold drink in a shady oasis. It’s rest for my brain, pleasant work for my hands and a bright spot of color for my spirit. As a quilter I’ve sewn lots of crazy, fun patchwork, yet through the years simple squares remain a favorite resting place.

I’f you’re looking for a simple scrap quilt idea, I highly recommend!

In fact, I couldn’t resist adding a few of my recent scraps to some of the blocks. These three blocks are my favorites. Each color scheme is delicious, but that lemon and mint seems positively perfect for summer, don’t you think?

I’ll be done sewing these quick, little blocks soon, so I’ve started brainstorming the quilt layout. It’ll need sashing for sure. Sashing works to further harmonize the disparate color schemes of these scrappy quilt blocks. It also does me the favor of enlarging the project up to throw-quilt size.

A soft cream solid fabric sashing would have been nice, but I only had true white on hand. I almost always prefer to use fabric on hand for quilt sashing and backing, so I studied my stash for larger cuts of fabric that might do the trick. I think that this pale blue Carolyn Friedlander dot will be lovely. It’s super simple (thus not distracting as a sashing), and it suits the cheerful vibe of the quilt.

Some blue sky for this sewing oasis, coming right up!