I saw a bank advertisement that featured arrows (inspiration is everywhere!), which prompted me to play in Electric Quilt 8. Of course, I usually start with a regular design of repeating units…

…before allowing myself to relax the rules and play around with the layout.

I decided to modify these arrows slightly by changing the ends of the arms (do those bits have a name?) from blunt to angled. This also has the effect of creating sharper squares out of the negative space between the arrows – suddenly those 9 squares in the middle jump out more clearly. Can you see them?

I’m not sure which design I prefer. Each one has its advantages!

There are a few different ways you could translate this design into an actual quilt pattern. Each block could comprise 4 half-arrows that meet in the middle. Or a block could contain just one double-ended arrow, positioned diagonally across; setting the blocks on point and separating them with thin sashing would create the same end result.

Either way, I’d be tempted to use paper piecing to create these thin lines, but that’s only because I don’t trust my sewing skills to get them as sharp and consistent as I’d like them.