While making the Carson City Block for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Vol. 6 I took the time to play with the units before sewing them all together.
This is the Carson City block that appears in the magazine.
This is variation #1. I took the corner units and gave them a turn so the pink squares are now on the outer corners of the block.
For variation #2 I turned the side units to point away from the center of the block.
For variation #3 I gave each of the side and corner units a 180 degree turn.
Whenever I take the time to do this before sewing a block together I am always amazed at the wonderful variations that appear. I also want to make a quilt out of each of them and then I start to think about how to set those blocks into quilts and what about the secondary designs . . . . . the ideas go on forever!
Many times people ask me where I come up with the names for my quilts or blocks. If it’s a traditional block that has been around forever I tend to use that name. When it is a block I have designed, then it’s usually harder for me to come up with a new name than it was to design the block to begin with!
So why did I call this block Carson City? Well I decided to name some of my blocks after state capitals- that way I’ll learn the capitals again, something that I have not memorized since 4th or 5th grade! And then I can also spend more time quilting and less time fussing over a name!
Have fun with these blocks!
Pat
nickelquilts 