Last week I was reading a famous quilter's blog and noticed
the quilt block she was sharing was almost identical to one I have in my first
book. Does this mean the quilter stole my design (because I know she has my
book)? Not at all! It means that we both enjoy traditional patterns and are
likely to have some blocks evolve in a similar manner.
I thought it might be fun to show you how this particular
design evolved into my Dutch Friendship quilt. It is on page 66 of Then and Now Quilts (available from my Shop Here tab!, at
local quilt stores, C&T Publishing, and Amazon). Scroll to the bottom of
the page to see the full-size design that finishes at 85" x 97".
I've always loved the Dutchman's Puzzle block and started
with that basic design. You can see how coloring the block in dark, medium, and
light gives way to new design ideas. After four additional versions, I landed
on the block I call Dutch Friendship – a Dutchman's Puzzle block with
Friendship Star in the center! The cherry on the top was changing the center
square to a square-in-a-square on point to echo the cornerstones in the quilt
top.
This quilt was affectionately known as "the beast" while I was working on it because it was the largest, and last, quilt for the book. I worked on it as a leader/ender project through a lot of the other sewing and even worked on it on vacation at Sun River, Oregon. It is still one of my favorites!
