A Friendship Quilt ~ The Basics

I can’t tell you how delighted I am that so many people wanted to join this project and that some of you are giving patchwork a try for the very first time. There aren’t many rules involved, only that the finished blocks need to be 6 1/2” square. They can be made to any design you like and that will depend on the individual stitcher.

I’m (fairly sure) that I’m going to stick with the basic Nine Patch for everyone. My plan is to make two blocks, one for the person whose month it is, in their chosen colour scheme, and a second matching block to keep myself. I’ll then have 24 blocks at the end of the year, which will make a larger quilt.

You could choose to go a little simpler and make a Four Patch block. You would need four 3 1/2” squares for this one and in each case the seam allowance would be 1/4” to give you a 6 1/2” block once it was sewn together.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me their address details and colour schemes so far, there are some lovely choices among them. I’m already dreaming up a few ideas. I’ll get the list together as soon as I’ve heard from everyone. As for me, I’m going for the pot luck option and trust that it will be wonderful when it’s all sewn up.

I’m putting together a couple of tutorials for these basic blocks. Showing how I would do it with a ruler and rotary cutter and how it can be done just as easily with a pencil, scissors and cereal packet templates.

Have a lovely weekend.