I love using an alternating palette (usually of only two colours) on a regular repeating pattern to give the impression that some blocks are sinking into the background while others are coming to the foreground.

In this week’s sketches, each main ‘cross’ shape is made up of one block, with the outermost edges created by adjacent blocks.

The problem with a two-colour palette is that I can never decide which version I like best….

This kind of design has sooo much potential for different block placement. I tend to start with the blocks in the centre, often surrounded by a wide border (like in the above two images). When I’m happy with that version, I’ll try other versions by adding or removing blocks or borders.

With this sketch, I actually started with a multi-colour palette of my usual warm pinks, oranges and yellows. These colours always work well with a white background or a darker one (like the dark blue shown here). I like using wide borders in my sketches to frame the design a little, but of course you needn’t do that when making a quilt. I know some quilters hate dealing with things like sashing and borders.

 

These blocks also work well when set on point (i.e. on a diagonal grid). The lines within each block end up stretching horizontally and vertically instead of diagonally.

I removed the corner blocks in the above two designs, just to add some negative space. But you can fill out the whole grid if you want.

Or mix up the palette and placement…

And use whatever colours you want!

I originally designed the block using a square-in-a-square unit, a bunch of flying geese, and some half-square triangles. But seeing the block set on point, I realise it would probably be easier to make a quilt from this design using squares and rectangles that are assembled into rows or columns –rather than making complete blocks that are then sewn together.