Zigs & Zags: One Block Wonder

Aren't one block wonder quilts great? It's always fascinating to see how one square design, with varying fabric placement and orientation, can create a complex quilt pattern. Wendy Sheppard's Zigs & Zags quilt, featured in the spring issue of Quilter's World, does just that, and even better, does it in colors that pop and sparkle! She used the rainbow array of prints from the Caryl's Feather collection to create a unique chevron design. Wendy talked about her Zigs & Zags design, both below on our blog and again on her blog.

"Zigs & Zags" by Wendy Sheppard;
featured in Quilter's World Spring 2015

Why do Caryl’s Feather fabrics work so well for this design?  

I think it's the colors in the fabric group that makes the final look of the quilt.  There are just so many colors to play with.  This is also the same group of fabrics with which I had designed Star Struck that won Benartex's 2015 Fan Favorite March Madness Award.  I love that these fabrics have such movement about them in the feather plume prints.

How did you pick your palette?

From the very beginning, I knew it was going to be colorful quilt.  I wanted to include as many fabrics as I could because I love all of them - it was hard to settle on just one or two colors.  So the easy way out was just to include as many colors as I could in the quilt design.

Tell us about the design—why did you vary from the zig zag pattern?

I love one block wonder quilts.  The quilt center is made up of just one block, colored and oriented differently.  I decided to give the usual chevron quilt a little twist by orienting the red and orange blocks to make them to look like squares set on point for a bit of unexpected visual effect.

Can you talk about your border choices?

There is such a concentration of colors in the quilt center.  I wanted to introduce a bit more white in the border to balance things out a bit.  The flying geese units worked out really well in the outer border because I was able to have the white and bits of colors here and there to round things out.

Any tips for making the blocks?

The block is actually quite straightforward to construct - just make sure the 1/4" seam allowances are there, then everything should come out right.

Tell us about the machine quilting.

Machine quilting is confined within the geometric makeup of the blocks.  Straight lines, mixed in with swirly tails are quilted in the chevrons.

What do you like best about this quilt?

For me it's how all the colors come together to make the quilt look so richly colorful!

Click here to see the Caryl's Feather collection.

Click here to read Wendy's post about the Zigs & Zags quilt.

Click here to find Quilter's World.

p.s. Inspired by these beautifully vibrant colors? Come back tomorrow to learn about our next blog hop, starting Monday, featuring the gorgeous Burlap Brights!

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We have a winner!

And the winner in our March Madness Fan Favorite Pattern is.....

Star Struck

by Wendy Sheppard

featuring Caryl's Feather

Find the free pattern for Star Struck here.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote, either here on the blog, or on Facebook, during our March Madness contest!

We've also randomly selected the winners from our March Madness giveaway:

The winner of the box of 80 Sundance fat quarters is:
Vickie Storey

The runner-up winner of 20 Daily Zen fat quarters is:
Donna Koenig

Congratulations, ladies!

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The Championship Game!

Our March Madness Fan Favorite Pattern Bracket is down to the final game:

Star Struck vs. Star Dance

Thanks to everyone who has helped narrow the patterns down from our original 50 to the Sweet Sixteen to these final two.  As a thank you for your participation, this final round of voting will include the opportunity to win fabric prizes! 

Congratulations to Wendy Sheppard and Ann Lauer for creating the two quilts in our championship game! We interviewed the quilt designers of these two beauties so you can learn more about what inspired these designs and fabric choices before you vote. 

Help us choose the champion by voting in the comments and on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting.  (see more voting details at the bottom of this post).
And don't forget to download these free patterns (or any of the others that you can find in our Quilt Gallery).

"Star Struck" by Wendy Sheppard; featuring Caryl's Feather

vs.

"Star Dance" by Ann Lauer; featuring Sundance

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Wendy talks about Star Struck:

What do you like best about this quilt?

I like that it looks traditional and contemporary at the same time. You see the sawtooth star blocks?  I am on a personal quest to see just how many ways I can use sawtooth star blocks in my designs.

How did you choose the colors to use in it?

The way I chose the colors was to include as many colors as I could, but still keep an ordered look.  When I use a lot of colors in a quilt, oftentimes I would finish out the border with either black, gray or white.  In this case, my go-to choices didn't bring out the bright look I wanted for the quilt.  So, I used red.

Can you tell us a bit about the design?

This quilt is essentially a one block wonder quilt.  The blocks are simple in construction, and are created in many colors to scrap up the overall look. The framed square blocks, spiced up with the small sawtooth star blocks in all the colors, give the overall design a lot to look at, I think.  I am always excited when I can come up with something with a lot of visual interest using simple blocks.

Why does it work so well with the Caryl's Feather fabric?

Besides colors, the Caryl's Feather fabrics themselves have a lot of movement and texture from the large feather prints that are incorporated with the background colors.  So, even though the designs will work just as well with any basic line of fabrics, I think Caryl's Feather really brings the design to a different level with the texture and movement in the prints.

 Ann talks about Star Dance:

What do you like best about this quilt?

The design looks involved but it's actually simple piecing so it can be made successfully by quilters from advanced beginner up. It also a lot of components so there’s not too much repetition—it’s fun to make. The pattern uses a very easy technique for flying geese, four-patches, and an included template for the half rectangles.

Can you talk about how this quilt shows off your Sundance prints?

The design is not crowded and the components are large enough to let the details of the fabric show off. It has an airy feeling. The black print is a geranium flower, so depending on where you cut it, you’ll get a variety of red petals as well as green leaves. The green, red and purple in the background are all delicate marbles with nice flowing movement.

Can you tell us a bit about the design?

The larger 10” squares help to highlight the focal prints--true watercolor style of the large poppy and field of flowers prints. The Irish Chain look that connects the blocks came about because I was just having fun with four-patches, letting them dance across the background. Plus, the pinwheels are not just HSTs—they are more interesting but easy. 

Tell us about the flexibility of your design.

Of course, I think the pattern is beautiful in the Sundance fabrics but it's designed to work for other collections as well. You could also enlarge it into a twin-size quilt by adding pinwheel borders to the top and bottom. 

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It's a battle of the stars! 

Star Struck vs. Star Dance

Which one will be the fan favorite quilt pattern?

Here's how to vote AND how to enter the giveaway:

• To vote: Leave a comment below with the name of your favorite quilt, Star Struck or Star Dance. One comment per person, please.  You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting. Voting is now closed.
• To enter the giveaway: Send an email to socialmedia23 (at) gmail.com with Battle of the Stars in the subject line.
• Both the voting for Favorite Pattern and the giveaway will be open through Tuesday, April 7th at 5 pm EST. We'll announce the Favorite Pattern and giveaway winners on Wednesday. 
• Prizes: The grand prize winner will receive a box of 80 Sundance fat quarters. Runners-up will receive a bundle of 20 fat quarters from Daily Zen. We'll choose one runner-up for every 50 emails received. Winners will be randomly chosen from received emails and will be notified by email as well as announced here on the blog. 

Good luck to both of these fantastic patterns! 

To see the original bracket of sixteen and/or read the details of March Madness, click here.

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