Finished Quilt - Four & Eight Grid Sampler

Here are the finished quilt photos -- lots of them!

The quilting took me SO SO long to do on my domestic. But the Janome is a workhorse and was up to the task. I finally cleaned it yesterday, and, wow, there were some giganto pieces of dust in there.

Old grey goose:

Border detail:

Hour glass II:

X-quartet:

As you can see, I tried to carry some of the quilting motifs over several blocks to provide continuity. There were many times when I almost quit, ready to put the project away. But I stuck with it, and about 1/3 of the way through, it started coming together, and I started getting excited. So glad I did, because I think it turned out rather well!

Full instructions for quilt can be found here, or under the tab at the top of the page.

Four & Eight Grid Sampler - Finished Quilt Top!

I finished piecing the quilt top on July 1st, and had a plan to spend a couple of vacation days from work over this Fourth of July week at a local longarm shop, quilting this top and the Memory quilt. Alas, life got in the way in the form of an unfortunate event on Father's Day, resulting in knee surgery this past Tuesday.

BUT, I didn't want to wait to at least post the finished quilt top! I was so excited to finish this and post all the instructions.

I started this project in 2013, worked on it very sporadically. I only started dedicating some time to it this past June, as I made it a point to get a little more familiar with EQ7 and Adobe Illustrator, which have made the writing-up portion much easier.

Everything came together smoothly in the end. All the information on this quilt, in addition to downloadable PDFs instructions for each block and the quilt finishing instructions, can be found by clicking on the quilt image below, or clicking on the "Four & Eight Grid Sampler" tab at the top of the blog.

PS. I didn't do a separate post for the last block in the center of the quilt (Square Surrounded), but you can find the PDF instructions by clicking on the image below as well.

Finally, I have a project to link up to the 2018 Finish-A-Long!

Arrow Crown: Block 8 of the Four & Eight Grid Sampler

Love, love, love this block! There are a lot of pieces, but with a 16-inch block, pretty easy peasy. Enjoy!

Block 8 - Arrow Crown

Click on the image to the left for the printable PDF of the piecing instructions. Click here for the rest of the blocks for this quilt: Four & Eight Grid Sampler.

Crown and Star: Block 7 of the Four & Eight Grid Sampler

This is one of my favorite blocks out of the nine that I pieced for this quilt. It's a relatively simple block, but has lots of impact visually.

Block 7 - Crown and Star

Click on the image to the left for a PDF of the piecing instructions. The rest of the blocks in this series can be found here: Four & Eight Grid Sampler Home Page.

Ruins of Jericho: Block 6 of the Four & Eight Grid Sampler

More than half-way through. Here is the sixth block, called Ruins of Jericho, in the Four & Eight Grid Sampler. Like the other blocks in this series, it is based on Judy Hopkin's 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks but super-sized to a 16-inch finished block.

This one was easy-peasy and doesn't really need any explanation. Again, fabrics for all blocks are from Denyse Schmidt's Shelburne Falls collection. Click on the block below for the PDF of the piecing instructions. 

Block 6 - Ruins of Jericho

 I decided to make things a little easier and created a single page for all block directions in this Sampler. Click on the full quilt icon below to take you to the page, or click on the tab for "Four & Eight Grid Sampler Quilt" at the top of the page.

Click for all blocks in this series.

Old Grey Goose: Block 5 of the Four & Eight Grid Sampler

I spent a little more time preparing the PDF of the piecing instructions for this block. I am using a combination of EQ7 and Adobe Illustrator. I am definitely not an expert at either software, and there is somewhat of a learning curve. Hopefully the extra time paid off!

I love this block! I am not altogether sure if I see a goose, maybe the head of a goose? Well, I will add this to one more of life's mysteries to ponder. Click on the block below for the PDF of the piecing instructions!

Block 5 - Old Grey Goose

Here are the links to the piecing instructions for the four previous blocks in this series:

Block 1 - X-Quartet 

Block 2 - Dutchman's Puzzle 

Block 3 - Hour Glass II

Block 4 - Fox and Geese

The Four & Eight Grid Sampler Quilt Mock-Up with Shelburne Falls Fabric Swatches

I am having so much fun messing around with EQ7! Here is a better mock-up of the Shelburne Falls Four and Eight Grid Sampler, this time using true fabric swatches from the collection. The prints are not to scale, but it still pretty cool!

The Four & Eight Grid Sampler Quilt - EQ7 Mock-Up

So all nine blocks are done! OK, I had high hopes for 12 or 16 blocks, but reality prevailed, and I won't let myself start on a new project until this one is done.

This is a mock-up using EQ7. The color renditions of each block are not ideal, but I tried to approximate. The final quilt size will be 68" x 68", with sashing and a border. I will continue to post block piecing instructions, and final instructions for putting the quilt together. Stay tuned!

Block 2 - Dutchman's Puzzle

The Dutchman's Puzzle has always had a certain appeal for me, but I haven't had the opportunity to make one up until now.  I was fooled by its simple, clean lines.  It actually takes a bit of focus and precision.  It's all flying geese and triangle points that have to be lined up just so.

Anyhow, I love this block.  It's the second block in my 16" block sampler series.  If you would like to read more about the sampler, my first first post about the sampler is here. If you would like to sew along with me, you can download instructions for the first block (X-Quartet) and this block by clicking on the following links:

Block 1 - X-Quartet
Block 2 - Dutchman's Puzzle

Over-Sized Four/Eight Grid Sampler Blocks

Fabric: Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt

X-Quartet

I started working on a new sampler quilt. The blocks are based on blocks from Judy Hopkin's 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks. My plan is to make between 12 to 16 blocks and end up with a queen-sized sampler quilt.  In order to make a quilt this large with a relatively modest number of blocks, I'm super-sizing the blocks I'm using to 16 inches. Anything beyond simple math befuddles me, so I stuck to 4 and 8-grid blocks, because they translate easily into 16-inch blocks.

So this is the first block, X-Quartet. I'm using Denyse Schmidt's Shelburne Falls, and I've roughly calculated needing 10-12 fat quarters, plus about 2.5-3 yards of a background solid, for all the blocks. I haven't decided about the sashing and border(s) yet, but I have a rough idea of what I want to do. But I still need to do the math (ugh) to figure out yardages. 

If you are interested in directions for the block, I've created a PDF with fabric requirements and cutting and piecing instructions.  You can download the PDF here.