Sometimes the easiest way to iterate a design is to just swap out one shape for another. I’ve done that before: Sunday sketch #458 is pretty much #457 with half-square triangles instead of squares, and Sunday sketch #419 is basically #418 with curved log cabins replacing the triangular log cabins. (You can find a few more examples on my Instagram feed if you could be bothered looking.) This week I’ve replaced the drunkard’s path units from Sunday sketch #467 with kites.

I don’t use the kite unit much at all. The most recent sketch I can find that uses it is Sunday sketch #299, which I posted in March 2022 (!). And I showed how versatile it is in Sunday sketch #229. Why don’t I use kites more often? I have no idea. I’ll have to reintroduce it to my design brain.

So, like Sunday sketch #467, this week’s designs are based on a 16-patch made up of a single unit repeated and rotated: last time it was a drunkard’s path, this time it’s a kite. The kites meet in the middle to make a kind of star, pair up on all four sides to create a kind of boat shape, and stick out in the corners. I’ve used a kite whose point doesn’t quite reach to the corner of the square, just to leave the same bit of space that I had in the original design.

I started with a two-colour palette (which I think has a nice impact here), but the design works in a larger palette too. With quite a few elements in each block, there are lots of ways to use just a few colours.

   

Even once you’ve settled on what elements to colour, there are lots of ways to place the different colours (3 × 2 × 1 = 6 versions here). Here I’ve shown two versions for each background colour: cream, pink and black.

   

   

   

I also tried an expanded palette, which works too. (A better palette would be… well, better… but I always go for the easy option!)

   

Subtracting some elements (in this case, the corner kites in alternate blocks) is an option too.

I prefer a mix of bright colour and background colour.

And again, there are lots of options for colour placement. (This is a better palette!)

   

I think that last one’s my favourite. I didn’t put it as the feature image this week because it’s a lot like another version I’ll share in the future (in which the original drunkard’s path units are replaced with triangles and kites instead).

So all you’d need to make this week’s sketch into a quilt is lots and lots of kites. There are probably templates out there for making kites, but they might have the pointy end of the kite touching the corner of the square, whereas I’ve pulled it in a smidge to leave a bit of space. I’d end up making my own template for this one, I think. I designed these blocks as 12″ square in Electric Quilt 8, so each kite would be 3″ (finished). Or you could make then 2″ (8″ block) or 4″ (16″ block), etc. Whatever you want!