Have you heard of the "disappearing" patchwork technique... disappearing 9-patch, disappearing hourglass, 4-patch, pinwheel, etc.? It's a patchwork process for taking a pieced quilt block, doing a sleight of hand "cut-and-shuffle magic" on it, and...
Presto Change-o... a new block is created.
 |
| Disappearing 9-patch. |
While straightening up my studio space, I discovered 6 "framed square" blocks (what I'm calling them) in the charity block pile. They were one-off, unrelated, and frankly... kinda boring. I added 3 more to see if I could get a cuddle quilt for charity out of them. But they were still pretty much a big ol' snooze fest. Zzzzzzzz...
 |
| Nine orphan blocks. |
Taking a cue from the Quilting Bingo card
I remembered one square on my guild Quilting Bingo card was "Make blocks using a disappearing technique."
 |
| Bingo square: "Make blocks using a disappearing technique." |
Having used the Disappearing 9-patch technique for the quilt shown below, I recalled how fun and easy this technique was. This Disappearing 9-patch layout looks a lot more complex than its 9-patch origin. Perhaps a "disappearing" technique could liven up the deadpan framed square blocks, too.
 |
| Disappearing 9-patch quilt. |
A disappearing technique to the rescue
The framed squares were 10" in size—an easy size to work with. Using the "disappearing" technique, I could cut the blocks into quarters to get 5" units. Then, I could shuffle the units to make a more interesting quilt top... or even pair them with 5" charm squares.
 |
| Cutting the quilt blocks in to quarters. |
As luck would have it, I found a long piece of a 108" wide back left over from another quilt. The strip of this purple tonal was about 5" wide... just the right width to cut my own 5" charm squares. And the purple would be the "continuity factor" these random framed squares needed. (Yes, you can use wide backing fabric on the front of a quilt.)
 |
| 5" alternate blocks cut from a strip of 108" wide backing. |
With the 5" pieced units and the purple 5" charm squares, this layout was born.
 |
| Disappearing framed blocks with alternate blocks. |
Soooo much better! The eye dances around the quilt and those big blocks—now chopped and shuffled—aren't so boring anymore. A brilliant technique that wasn't difficult or time-consuming.
This Bingo square got crossed off and I have a quilt top for a future charity quilt.
 |
| Crossing off another Quilt Bingo square. |
