Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Friday, April 17, 2020

Design Wall in Light Blue

These days it's easy to jump around from one thing to another in the sewing room, and that absolutely describes my week!

But sometimes that results in a bit of progress!

Way back in 2016, when I first joined in with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge,  I made all kinds of scrappy double four patches in every color, but I never liked how they went together, so I abandoned the idea of using them all in one quilt.  Instead they have gone into various orphan block projects  - like a doll quilt, a wheel chair quilt, and these potholders made and gifted in 2018!


I've been wanting to try the double four patches again with a more controlled color scheme, and that's what I've been playing with this week.

I've been cutting some yardage of a light blue grunge into 3.5 inch squares and laying it out with the scrappy 4 patches I started making with 2 inch squares earlier in the year.

From my Thursday post - a new rotary cutter blade makes a huge difference!

Scrappy 4 patches from earlier in the year:


And here's how they look together so far - 

I want the chains of colors and neutrals to be really strong 
running through this design.  This has been fun to play with!  Each double four patch will finish at 6 inches, so lots more are needed.

Along the way, lots of blue HSTs for the zigzag quilt have also been made, and both the green and orange rows are completely sewn together.

Oops, that last one on the top left is turned wrong!

There, that's better!


What have you been up to this week?  Looking forward to visiting with all the RSC quilters at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

Also sharing at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!


















25 comments:

Michele McLaughlin said...

It's so much fun watching your projects! I love that blue with your four patches! It really is a neat alternating color to the blocks! Thanks for the inspiration! Hugs and stay well!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I love the zigzags - I am going to draw some out later and see if I think it might work for a border on my quilt I will be working on this week

Linda said...

I love that blue Grunge as your background! Very pretty scrappiness on your wall as always. I gardened yesterday so today is my scrappy blues catch-up day.

maggie fellow said...

great way to use the 4 patches and chevrons

Vicki in MN said...

All the looking at what people are quilting during quarantine has my head spinning, so many ideas! Now I want to make 4 patches, LOL But I will stick to the quilt I cut out yesterday.

Julierose said...

they look great together--nice work ~ ~ ~ from under my bumbershoot ;))
Julierose

Chantal said...

I'm the same; jumping from one project to the other, except that I am juggling with more than two. Your 4 patch quilt looks lovely so far. Enjoy! ;^)

grammajudyb said...

It has been easy to flit from one project to another. But, you prove that it can still be productive! Great job with the 4 patches!

The Joyful Quilter said...

Jumping around SEW seems to work for you, Diann!! Loving BOTH of the projects on your Design Hall. :o))

Kathy S. said...

Love your four patches with the blue blocks -- it really makes them all work together. I do love my scrappy four-patches in my Go Four It quilt. You can look at it on this post (2nd quilt down the list).

https://new2quilting.blogspot.com/search?q=Go+Four+It+progress

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Your design wall is beautiful, full of pretty blocks! I love the chevrons so much...!

piecefulwendy said...

You are really having a good time! I love that little scrappy 4-patch with the blue -it's so pretty!

Barb N said...

Fun projects! Glad you posted those potholders. Our guild is making 400+ potholders for our community's holiday baskets, and those would work up easily and are very attractive. Thanks for the idea!

Sylvia@Treadlestitches said...

Beautiful, colorful projects! And your design wall itself is very inspiring. There's nothing wrong with multi-tasking!

Cathy said...

You’ve come up with a great solution for unifying and controlling those fun four-patches. and I love how your zigzag HSTs are such a cheerful metaphor for our levels of concentration during our coronacation.!

Marly said...

I like your zig-zag rows, they are coming along beautifully. A few years ago I made tiny 9 patches, and then couldn't think what to do with them. Your 4-patches have got me thinking about them again. Thanks!

LA Paylor said...

they look good. I really like the whole grunge line of colors

Cathy said...

I saw a site a while back that had a variety of layouts for D4Ps. Its so versatile!

I changed my blade a couple of weeks ago. Well, it didn't seem to work very well after that. Then I discovered I had put in TWO blades that were stuck together. Sheesh...

Susie H said...

The double 4-patches look really good and, as always, loving the zig zags! I agreed with your Thursday post -- a new rotary blade is so WONDERFUL and more than enough to be grateful for!

Mari said...

Your projects are looking really good! Love those scrappy zigzags. A new rotary blade sounds heavenly, too. Stay safe!

Jayne said...

I love both of your projects! Scrappy quilts are great almost always, but sometimes you need a little more control over the design. Having a new rotary blade really does make all the difference. Thanks for reminding me that I need to buy another one!

Sue SA said...

Love your scrappy chevrons and I keep promising myself I will make some....still on the to do list though! I have been making my scrappy four patches into quilt tops though - but as chain blocks (like a nine patch irish chain) as I had the same issue finding a pattern I liked. I do like the light blue you have used as the background. I much prefer a colour background then whites for kids quilts, really brightens it all up. Thanks for your great ideas!

chrisknits said...

Your color choices are awesome! Love the look of the Double 4 patch

Katie Z. said...

Lovely blocks!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

That blue is a perfect choice for your alternate blocks. I love both projects. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!