First there were squares, then half-square triangles, and now crosses!

The past two weeks’ Sunday sketches featured 9-patches, 16-patches and 25-patches comprising squares and then half-square triangles. This week I’ve use crosses, or Xs, as the main component of these blocks. I’ve used a standard layout rather than setting the blocks on point, and I’ve added a border too.

   

It’s all feeling kinda cross-stitchy! But adding a third colour helps to bring the design back to the quilty realm. Here I’ve coloured some of the spaces between the crosses: the little diamonds created at the corners of four adjacent units within the blocks.

   

I also tried colouring bigger spaces between the crosses, and even the crosses themselves. I’ve tried to colour each type of block the same (that is, all the 9-patches are similar, as are the 16-patches, etc.), just for some consistency across the design.

Even with that constraint, though, there are plenty of ways to colour different elements.

   

Or just go rogue and colour random bits and pieces.

This is not a design I think I’d ever make into an actual quilt – imagine wrangling the seams on the back! not to mention how heavy the whole thing would be – but I still think that playing around with sketches like these is worthwhile. It can spark other ideas or lead me in different directions.

To make an actual quilt, I’d probably supersize the blocks and reduce the number required. For example, using the 16-patch in a 2 × 2 layout with pops of colour to pick out certain elements.

   

Or using the 9-patch with plain crosses. Combining a block with two colourable elements (the crosses and the background) and a three-colour palette means six possible block colour combinations; all six are shown below, with the orange-on-green and black-on-green appearing in both designs.

   

These last few designs would work well without the border too, I think. Lots of options! Who knew a trip to the Museum of Economic Botany would spark so many ideas?!