Tag Archives: quilt pattern

Modified Wiggly Whimsy = Linked Chain

quilting, sewing,
A few weeks ago, I was looking at my latest precuts purchase, a jelly roll (set of 2 1/2 inch strips) and a charm pack (set of 5 inch blocks), wondering what to do with them.  I came across the Wiggly Whimsy pattern and figured I would invert the pattern.  Where it called for white, I would use the prints I had, and where it called for prints, I would use white.  
From Moda Bake Shop.
In my mind, the result would be a quit that looked like it had a scattering of white blocks instead of a scattering of colors.  As I was finishing the quilt top, I decided to keep the white sashing between columns.  The result was a linked chain effect.  (Sidenote: I didn’t see the linked chain pattern until showing this quilt top to family.  I had the original pattern of scattered small blocks still stuck in my mind.)

Finished quilt top.

Closer view of the finished quilt top.

In person, the green fabric doesn’t seem to be as strong as it does in the photos.  It seemed a little stronger than the other fabrics when I was piecing the quilt, but the photos make it stand out a lot more.  

I’m excited to quilt this!  I have no idea what design I’ll use, but I’m thinking I might do flowers in the sashing to echo the floral prints.  I hope to have this quilted in a few days!

Wiggly Whimsy

quilting, sewing, , ,
I bought a jelly roll and a charm pack, and had no idea what to do with them.  A search for quilt patterns using those two items brought this:  the Wiggly Whimsy Quilt.  I love the pattern, but I’m doing it in reverse…so where you see white, there will be colors.  I’m REALLY excited for a quilt that looks like there are white blocks tossed about.
 
Below is the progress so far – lots of cutting and, today, 98 block pairs.  I’m excited!
 

Super Geeky (Not Sci-Fi) Quilt Idea

quilting,

A friend of mine commented that when he read the title to my last tutorial on hemming napkins, he thought it actually read, “Hilbert Napkins,” referring to the Hilbert curve.

 This is a Hilbert Curve:

Attribution (also cool use for Presidential Candidate travel map)
I laughed when I saw the pattern because it reminded me of a free-arm quilting pattern known as a stipple.  Stipple can be large or small, depending on the scale to fit the item being quilted.  The Hilbert Curve is known as a filler curve; so appropriate for quilting, don’t you think?
Talking this over with my husband, he then mentioned the Sierpinski Triangle.  Here’s the logic to the Sierpinski Triangle in quilting terms:
Start with a 9-patch comprised of only two fabrics, white and a patterned fabric.  That is the base to work from.  Now, consider a 9-block wall-hanging.  Using the same pattern as used in the single, 9-patch block, wherever you used the patterned fabric, in the 9-block wall hanging, you would use that 9-patch block.  Let’s say your original block had this:
White – White – Pattern
White – Pattern – White
Pattern – White – White
The blocks would be laid out like this:
White – White – 9-patch
White – 9-patch – White
9-patch – White – White
Get it?
Expand that to a larger quilt, comprised of 9 wall hangings, and you’d see:
White – White – Wall-hanging
White – Wall-hanging – White
Wall-hanging – White – White
That makes for a LOT of white, right?
Here’s the thing:  you could really use ANY 9-patch pattern, just repeat it per the Sierpinski Triangle logic and you’d have a HUGE variety of quilts that would be very cool (not to mention very simple to put together).  In the example, I used white, but you really could use ANY fabric setup, as long as you chose one of the original 9-patch fabrics to represent the location in the grid where that pattern would repeat.  
Below is an illustration I found on Wikipedia that immediately made me think quilt.  Not only did it make me think quilt, it made me think quilt using different values of the same color wherever you see red, so that it would start with a strong color in the upper right corner and fade into the white, so to speak.
Quilt it using a stipple in the form of a Hilbert Curve, and, my friends, geek your heart out over that.

From Wikipedia article on Sierpinski Triangles