Saturday, March 31, 2018

Playing with Repeats

Many of you probably know that printed fabric has repeats. Some of them are far more obvious than others. They are definitely more obvious on larger prints.  I saw blurb from CT Publishing about easy stacked four patch blocks.  Knowing the basic principle behind it, I decided to grab some fabrics and play.  Hmm.... I don't have a lot of fabrics that work well for this - I tend to like solids and blenders best.  Still, I found two and started cutting.

First I did a block using some Spider-man fabric (where on earth did I get that??? and why???)

Okay, I like the center but not the surrounding area.  Hmm, let me try the roses.
Originally the pieces were cut five inches square, but I couldn't find a pretty layout. So, I cut them into 2 1/2" pieces and pieced those.  I like them even though my cutting was slightly imperfect.  The designs still play well.  I trimmed them down to 4 inches.
Now, what to do with Spider-man?  I trimmed out a 4 inch block from the center.
I think that one is fun.  But there are some chunks left - what to do with them?
First I just put two together:
Not bad, but it isn't what I am doing so I didn't sew it. 
Then I saw this possibility so I laid it out for consideration.
I don't  have it exactly lined up- but I see that it will work.

Perhaps you want to see the original fabrics?  Here they are.

Have you ever played with repeats like this?  The first time I saw the concept was in a stack and whack kaleidoscope quilt at the first quilt show I ever attended.  This is a lot easier, I think.


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5 comments:

A Left-Handed Quilter said...

Yup - played with that some years ago. I LOVE the effect of kaleidoscope blocks without all of the work - ;))

Barbara said...

Love what you have done with (and *TO* :) Spider-Man! Such fun! We did a stack and whack quilt in guild once, I loved doing it. Such a surprise. Your method looks great, Gene!

Julie Fukuda said...

I have tried this with six repeats and eight repeats and have been thinking of trying it with four. Since I don't use a machine, I marled the pieces by hand and they turned out quite nicely. One of the good things is the colors get repeated in different patterns and amounts and all the blocks go well together. I think it is especially nice with florals.

Joni said...

I love all kaleidoscope style blocks. I am preparing my fabric for a serendipity class coming up later this month...can hardly wait. My friend just did one with Loralie cat fabric and it was adorable. I will have to get my hands on some batman, spiderman or superman fabric for a boys quilt. Have fun!

Barb said...

My sisters love to do repeats, they do a wonderful job. Love yours and was amused with spiderman....deep down you want to be spiderman????