Simple shapes, by Diana and Laura

California artists Diana McClun and Laura Nownes have been working together since the 1980's, when their first book Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! was born.  With over one million copies sold to date, this book is often referred to as "the bible" of quiltmaking.  Many of Diana and Laura's patterns are suitable for strip piecing, jelly rolls and other confections.... here are just a few of our favorites.

Sparkling Spools,  by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, Laura Nownes.com

We love simple patterns that look spectacular. "Sparkling spools" is just one of Diana and Laura's Simply Strip Pieced Patterns.

Bow Tie, 64 x 80", by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, Laura Nownes.com

This easy to piece classic pattern focuses more on the placement of light and dark fabrics rather than the bow tie design, and it looks posititvely modern in this design. Imagine the fabric possibilities !

Origami Pinwheels, by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, Laura Nownes.com

These pinwheels are so elegant and clever..the look of a traditional Japanese design is achieved without fabric folding!

You can find Diana and Laura's entire line of patterns at Laura Nownes.com.   Here are a few more of our favorites: The Big Tumble (which we featured in our 2010 series on Tumbling Block Quilts); Sensu (fan); Strippy Stripes; Bamboo and Pinwheels; and Pinwheels in my Garden.

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of Laura Nownes. You also can find Laura at the See How We Sew blog.

Quilt Inspiration 2010: Tumbling Blocks

This year we had the opportunity to show some of our favorite optical illusions in quilting.  We love looking at these Tumbling Blocks quilts again !

 

Row 1, L-R: Amish quilt from the collection of Faith and Stephen Brown, as seen at the Amish Abstractions exhibit; Tumbling Rainbows, by Lynn Harris;  Antique Orange and Blue tumbling blocks quilt, at Material Pleasures; What's In Your Box, by Elisa Lawrance, at the Arizona Quilters Guild.  Row 2: Tumbling blocks quilt, by Penny Halgren, at How-to-Quilt; "Y? Why not !" by Kathy Klassen; Hexagonal Rhythm, by Jane Wilson, at Jane's Quilts.  Row 3: Tumbling Blocks by Ann Moran, at Ann's ULT Embroidery Site; The Big Tumble, by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, at From Me to You Quilts; Hollow Cube, by Carol Capshaw, at the Oklahoma Quilters State Organization. Row 4: The Shirt Off My Back , by Betty Leppin; Tumbling Blocks quilt, ca. 1910, from the exhibit Common Threads, at the Adirondack Museum, New York; Menger's Cube, by Arnout Cosman; Row 5: Hand Painted Tumbling Blocks Quilt, by C. Jean Horst; Blue Cubes, by Martha Borders; Twin Towers, by BJ Reed.

For more information and links, see these original articles: Optical Illusions,   Tumbling Blocks -More Illusions, Cubic Construction, and Tumbling Blocks Divided by 4 or 9.  "Shirt off my Back" by Betty Leppin was shown in Waste Not, Want Not: Quilts from Reclaimed Clothing.  "Menger's Cube" by Arnout Cosman was shown in New Dimensions. "What's In Your Box" by Elisa Lawrance was shown at the 2010 Arizona Quilt Show.

Cubic construction

One of the beauties of tumbling blocks patterns is the seemingly infinite, and interesting, variations that are possible. Today we're showing several of our favorite contemporary quilts that incorporate tumbling blocks in some form: small or large, hollow or solid, floating or tessellated.

Hollow Cube, by Carol Capshaw



In Hollow Cube, the faces of the large tumbling blocks have been cut out, leaving a frame around the openings. The openings are filled with triangles, which are shaded to represent the back, floor, and sides of the cubes. The olive green and dark blue background has been rendered in textured batiks, giving it the quality of a landscape. We love the quilt, and the name of Carol's blog, To Be Fearless. We hope that Carol's workshops at OQSO include tips on fearlessness!


Blue Cubes, 65 x 76, by Martha Borders



In Blue Cubes, Martha has separated the tumbling blocks from each other so that they appear to be floating. The beauty of this elegant quilt comes in no small part from the hand-marbled cottons, which are arrayed in colors ranging from forest green to teal and turquoise blue. The swirled marbling reminds us of the deep blue sea.

Note added on December 22, 2010:  the website at marthaborders.com has closed.  See a profile of Martha Borders at Smollin.com.


Twin Towers, 32 by 24, by BJ Reed



The two large blocks in the quilt above are a remembrance of the Twin Towers in New York City. The blocks are constructed with crazy patch piecing, using fabrics in shades of rust and blue with red accents. BJ combined hand-dyed and painted fabrics, commercial batiks and geometric prints, satins and lames. The linear quilting on the building surfaces adds shading and dimension. The pattern for this wonderful quilt can be obtained at Piecemaking, LLC.

Hexagonal Rhythm, 1 meter square, by Jane Wilson at Jane's Quilts



In this original wall hanging, Jane has combined hexagons with tumbling blocks and elongated cubes, all in muted primary colors. The juxtaposition of shapes, and the angled arrangement of the houses, gives this piece a lively sense of movement or "rhythm". For more information and detailed views, visit Jane's Quilts.

All images are courtesy of the artists.

The hollow cube pattern is from Sara Nephew's Big Book of Building Block Quilts, available at Soft Expressions.

Tumbling blocks divided by 4 or 9

We're continuing our series on tumbling blocks variations, and the artists who have inspired us with their creations based on this versatile pattern. In the versions we're showing today, each side of each block is made up of four or nine different fabrics. The tumbling blocks are oversized, allowing for each side to be divided into fourths or ninths without each "tile" becoming too small. The use of multiple fabrics in a single block adds to the mosaic appearance of the quilt.

Hand Painted Tumbling Blocks Quilt, by C. Jean Horst



Hand-painted batiks were used to create the above quilt, which was pieced and quilted by the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The tumbling blocks are huge. Each side of each cube is made of nine different fabrics, such that each cube is made up of 27 individual pieces (3 x 9 = 27). Notice that the three-dimensional illusion is preserved by careful arrangement of light, medium and dark values. We can't help but notice the perfect piecing. For more information, click here.


The Big Tumble, by Diana McClun & Laura Nownes


In the Big Tumble, Diana and Laura have combined bright solids with dots, stripes and other prints to produce a riot of color and texture. Each cube is made up of twelve different fabrics (3 x 4 = 12) but the textures and colors are carefully repeated throughout the quilt to avoid chaos. For the pattern and workshops, including strip piecing methods, click here.

Images courtesy of John & Arlene Volk at Amish Country Quilts, and Diana McClun & Laura Nownes at Diana and Laura.

Tumbling blocks... more illusions

We are fascinated by tumbling blocks patterns and other optical illusions. In a series of posts, we want to share with you some of the variations we've found, and analyze how the illusion is created!

The design above is a rug, done in the 1985 Ypsilon design by Vernor Panton. We've also found some wonderful quilts done in the Y-variation of tumbling blocks... like this Y? Why not! quilt by Kathy Klassen (below). This beautiful batik quilt was made from three light, three medium and three dark fat quarters, plus 0.5m background fabric. Kathy sells the pattern here, and teaches a workshop on her piecing methods.



Visualization of Ypsilon illusion: As in all tumbling blocks, the basic blocks (step 1) are made of light, medium and dark values. The shading creates the illusion of a three dimensional cube (we used 25%, 50% and 80% values). We took individual blocks and stacked them, one at a time, to form the Y shape (step 4). If you count the number of light, medium and dark diamonds in step 4 you'll see that there are 3 of each. The pattern is then formed by staggering the Y shapes, as shown (step 5).




Needless to say, this is a visualization aid, but not a piecing diagram! Strip piecing methods such as Kathy's, and other timesavers, are highly recommended. We'll feature some additional tools and techniques in upcoming posts.

ps. Kathy lives in beautiful British Columbia, home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. We hope she is partaking of the festivities (go, Canada!)

Optical illusions

The optical illusion known as 'tumbling blocks' dates back to ancient times, and is one of the most enduring patterns in quilting...and in mosaic tile! The use of light, medium and dark values creates the illusion of three-dimensional cubes, as shown below.


Tile floor, Pompeii



Tile floor, Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome



In quilting, fantastic variations of color, design and pattern have been applied to the basic block, creating a variety of special effects. In this and subsequent blogs we'll explore the universe of possibilities, and feature some of our favorites.

Amish quilt, 'stairway to heaven' variation, ca. 1935. This quilt was seen at the Amish Abstractions exhibit at the DeYoung Museum.



Tumbling blocks quilt, circa 1910: This quiltmaker included plaid fabrics, and varied the the light/medium/dark shading throughout the quilt. This adds visual interest as the eye wanders from place to place to resolve the pattern and figure out which way is up:



Antique orange and blue tumbling blocks quilt with prairie points, at Material Pleasures. In this beautiful quilt, the stripes add a contemporary feel:



Tumbling blocks quilt by Ann Moran: This harmonious design was created by repeating rows of blocks in complementary colors. Ann says that she is not a professional quilt maker ..."I studied many tumbling block quilts and then created my own":



Tumbling blocks quilt by Penny Halgren: In this charm(ing) quilt, each fabric was used only once. See Penny's website for her methods and tips:



Tumbling rainbows quilt by Lynn Harris as seen on Etsy. The calico prints really enliven this joyful quilt, and the block-shaped machine quilting further adds to the three-dimensional effect:





Image credits and links: Tumbling blocks graphics were created with 25%/50%/80% gray scale values, by Marina & Daryl at Quilt Inspiration; Tile floor at Pompeii, photo by Susan Gordon; Floor tiles in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, photo by Tino Warinowski, 2006, as seen at wikipedia; Amish abstractions poster, deYoung Museum (the quilt also appears on calendars, greeting cards, and jigsaw puzzles at the museum store); Richard Walker, photo of comforter in the "Tumbling Blocks" pattern, ca. 1910, from the exhibit Common Threads: 150 years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters; at the Adirondack Museum, New York; Tumbling blocks quilt by Ann Moran, see Ann's site and her other projects here.