Quick Quilt Tops: Help us pick a four-patch block design

August 24, 2021

I think all quilters have one or two “bucket list” quilt patterns they want to finish in their lifetime. Those quilts are often the ones that require special skills, techniques, time, and most especially—patience. If you’re anything like me, patience is one virtue that has become harder to cultivate over the past few months!

Though accomplishing those challenging quilts can be very gratifying, sometimes you just need a quick, easy project that doesn’t require burning out brain cells with complex thinking. That could be my age talking, but it’s still nice to get a project done in a day instead of a decade.

That’s why we decided to do another “Quick Quilt Series” this fall. With summer fading as fast as my petunias and shorter days ahead, having a quilt to work on that is simple and quick should help keep the doldrums at bay.

I’ve created 10 different quilt pattern layouts using a simple four-patch block that’s made up of squares and half-square triangles. (Actually, I was having so much fun rotating and flipping the blocks in EQ8 software that I was up to 30 layouts before I snapped out of it and forced myself to put down the mouse!)

My favorites are pictured below. I’ve intentionally made the layouts in gray scale instead of showing fabric colors so that you can choose strictly based on design, not color. Besides, it’s a bit like a mystery quilt – half the fun is being surprised by the final result.

We want YOU to vote for your favorite layout below. Once the votes are counted, then I’ll sew up the winning layout and create some quilting designs for you to vote on again.

Finally, I’ll quilt up the quilt using the winning quilting design, and then we’ll give away the finished quilt to one lucky winner, along with some great APQS swag! What could be even better than getting a free quilting pattern? Why, winning a finished quilt!