Sister's Choice Quilts

My interests are quilting, reading, cooking, family, decorating, and matters of style. I post regular quilting tutorials and book reviews of current fiction.

Having Fun With the World’s Coolest Block

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I am having so much fun with this quilt block!  I am calling it The World's Coolest Quilt Block.  On Saturday I made three of them in oranges and blacks for a Halloween table runner.  I think I will make two more blocks for the size I want for my table.  I could definitely stop at four blocks and make a square topper, but I have been enjoying the long traditional rectangular size on my dining table lately.

There were a couple of suggestions as to where this block originated, and it should not have surprised me, but one suggestion was that it is a Carrie Nelson design.

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There it is on the cover of Moda's Mini Marvels book!  The pattern Carrie designed for the book is way smaller than I wanted however, so I did the following:

I made four 6 1/2" log cabin blocks, sixteen 1 1/2 x 3" finished flying geese, and four 2" half square triangles for the center square.  My block is 16 1/2" .

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It would be super easy to enlarge or reduce the size of this block. 

My other projects are stalled out at this point, but I have a pretty free schedule this week, so if I use my time well, I should make some progress!

Hope you all had a terrific weekend.  I had a long chatty phone call with my son in Ireland, so that pretty much made my whole week.  We plan to spend most of September with him, and we are all very excited about that.  Did I tell you we will make a side trip to London and Paris?  Ooh la la.  I just can't wait to get back to those bookstores in London!  Foyles, Daunt and Waterstones.  The Triple Crown of bookstores.  Last year my suitcase was nearly to overweight status with all the books I bought to take home.  I plan to travel much lighter this year, so my back and my budget with both come out ahead. 

We are booked for a Harry Potter Walking tour in London, so my husband and I have been binge watching all the Harry Potter movies this past week.  We have made it through half of them.  I have also read the books, but want to bone up on what we are going to be seeing when on the tour.  Have any of you done it?  What did you think?  I can just see me trying to pitch myself through a brick wall at Platform 9 3/4, in an effort to board the train to Hogwarts.

45 responses to “Having Fun With the World’s Coolest Block”

  1. The blocks are wonderful. YOur trip sounds fantastic. So much fun and you will be with your son! Have a great week Nicole.
    Mary

  2. The blocks are wonderful. YOur trip sounds fantastic. So much fun and you will be with your son! Have a great week Nicole.
    Mary

  3. The blocks are wonderful. YOur trip sounds fantastic. So much fun and you will be with your son! Have a great week Nicole.
    Mary

  4. That’s a terrific block and looks great for a Halloween tablerunner. Your trip will be here before you know it. Haven’t done that tour but it sounds like a blast.

  5. That’s a terrific block and looks great for a Halloween tablerunner. Your trip will be here before you know it. Haven’t done that tour but it sounds like a blast.

  6. That’s a terrific block and looks great for a Halloween tablerunner. Your trip will be here before you know it. Haven’t done that tour but it sounds like a blast.

  7. I agree, Nicole, stunning design for this block! For your first two block, did you figure it out without the pattern? Impressive, if thats what you did! How about making one in red, hunter green and ivory for a Christmas quilt? A Christmas log cabin has been on my list to make for years and years. I wonder if the bookstores would be able to mail your books home to CA directly after you purchased them? I assume most businesses like that would do online sales, so maybe they’d mail yours as well? September will be here in the blink of an eye!!

  8. I agree, Nicole, stunning design for this block! For your first two block, did you figure it out without the pattern? Impressive, if thats what you did! How about making one in red, hunter green and ivory for a Christmas quilt? A Christmas log cabin has been on my list to make for years and years. I wonder if the bookstores would be able to mail your books home to CA directly after you purchased them? I assume most businesses like that would do online sales, so maybe they’d mail yours as well? September will be here in the blink of an eye!!

  9. I agree, Nicole, stunning design for this block! For your first two block, did you figure it out without the pattern? Impressive, if thats what you did! How about making one in red, hunter green and ivory for a Christmas quilt? A Christmas log cabin has been on my list to make for years and years. I wonder if the bookstores would be able to mail your books home to CA directly after you purchased them? I assume most businesses like that would do online sales, so maybe they’d mail yours as well? September will be here in the blink of an eye!!

  10. That will be such a great table runner at Halloween! Glad you’re finding enjoyment making the blocks…the ‘stalled out’ projects will come back to life when you’re ready. The visit to your son & all the planned side trips will be here before you know it!

  11. That will be such a great table runner at Halloween! Glad you’re finding enjoyment making the blocks…the ‘stalled out’ projects will come back to life when you’re ready. The visit to your son & all the planned side trips will be here before you know it!

  12. That will be such a great table runner at Halloween! Glad you’re finding enjoyment making the blocks…the ‘stalled out’ projects will come back to life when you’re ready. The visit to your son & all the planned side trips will be here before you know it!

  13. I think I might agree with you here. This is definitely a coolest block ever. I love what you are doing with them. Thanks for sharing your size choices as they make a very usable block size. I’m inspired 🙂

  14. I think I might agree with you here. This is definitely a coolest block ever. I love what you are doing with them. Thanks for sharing your size choices as they make a very usable block size. I’m inspired 🙂

  15. I think I might agree with you here. This is definitely a coolest block ever. I love what you are doing with them. Thanks for sharing your size choices as they make a very usable block size. I’m inspired 🙂

  16. Your block is really amazing and that it’s a design by Carrie doesn’t surprise me at all she has the best quilt ideas!
    I love books too and have the hardest time to walk out of a bookstore without a purchase.
    The HP tour sounds like fun I hope you make lots of pictures.

  17. Your block is really amazing and that it’s a design by Carrie doesn’t surprise me at all she has the best quilt ideas!
    I love books too and have the hardest time to walk out of a bookstore without a purchase.
    The HP tour sounds like fun I hope you make lots of pictures.

  18. Your block is really amazing and that it’s a design by Carrie doesn’t surprise me at all she has the best quilt ideas!
    I love books too and have the hardest time to walk out of a bookstore without a purchase.
    The HP tour sounds like fun I hope you make lots of pictures.

  19. Love your blocks and your idea for a table runner. Thanks for sharing the pattern with us. I like how Carrie used scrappy fabrics for her geese…both of you have done a super job!

  20. Love your blocks and your idea for a table runner. Thanks for sharing the pattern with us. I like how Carrie used scrappy fabrics for her geese…both of you have done a super job!

  21. Love your blocks and your idea for a table runner. Thanks for sharing the pattern with us. I like how Carrie used scrappy fabrics for her geese…both of you have done a super job!

  25. Can’t wait to see your completed runner; looks cute so far! If you like travel books including essays and literature, Stanford’s near Leicester Square is great.

  26. Can’t wait to see your completed runner; looks cute so far! If you like travel books including essays and literature, Stanford’s near Leicester Square is great.

  27. Can’t wait to see your completed runner; looks cute so far! If you like travel books including essays and literature, Stanford’s near Leicester Square is great.

  28. I finally searched for the book so I could tell you. LOL! So glad someone traced it for you. I have had my fabric pulled for it forever, maybe this will spur me on to finally starting it.

  29. I finally searched for the book so I could tell you. LOL! So glad someone traced it for you. I have had my fabric pulled for it forever, maybe this will spur me on to finally starting it.

  30. I finally searched for the book so I could tell you. LOL! So glad someone traced it for you. I have had my fabric pulled for it forever, maybe this will spur me on to finally starting it.

  31. Ten years ago, I travelled as a chaperone on my son’s high school tour of London. A student from his rowing club was attending Cambridge and rowing for their team. We decided to slip away from the school tour to visit the rower at Cambridge and in the process we had the unplanned but fortunate opportunity to be in the station with that unique 9 3/4 platform. We were avid readers of the series, sharing the books from the time he began to read chapter books. It was a great experience to share with him. As fans, I know you will enjoy the tour.

  32. Ten years ago, I travelled as a chaperone on my son’s high school tour of London. A student from his rowing club was attending Cambridge and rowing for their team. We decided to slip away from the school tour to visit the rower at Cambridge and in the process we had the unplanned but fortunate opportunity to be in the station with that unique 9 3/4 platform. We were avid readers of the series, sharing the books from the time he began to read chapter books. It was a great experience to share with him. As fans, I know you will enjoy the tour.

  33. Ten years ago, I travelled as a chaperone on my son’s high school tour of London. A student from his rowing club was attending Cambridge and rowing for their team. We decided to slip away from the school tour to visit the rower at Cambridge and in the process we had the unplanned but fortunate opportunity to be in the station with that unique 9 3/4 platform. We were avid readers of the series, sharing the books from the time he began to read chapter books. It was a great experience to share with him. As fans, I know you will enjoy the tour.

  34. I love this block! And I love that you’re doing Halloween table runners!
    I just finished binge-watching the Harry Potter movies 2 nights ago. My daughter read all the books and saw all the movies when she was younger (she’s 40 now), but I only saw a couple of the movies and read only a couple of the books before I lost the continuity and with work and all, never got any farther. Now I have to buy the books, because I see what all the fuss was about!
    Hope you take lots of pictures, both of Ireland, and the HP tour!

  35. I love this block! And I love that you’re doing Halloween table runners!
    I just finished binge-watching the Harry Potter movies 2 nights ago. My daughter read all the books and saw all the movies when she was younger (she’s 40 now), but I only saw a couple of the movies and read only a couple of the books before I lost the continuity and with work and all, never got any farther. Now I have to buy the books, because I see what all the fuss was about!
    Hope you take lots of pictures, both of Ireland, and the HP tour!

  36. I love this block! And I love that you’re doing Halloween table runners!
    I just finished binge-watching the Harry Potter movies 2 nights ago. My daughter read all the books and saw all the movies when she was younger (she’s 40 now), but I only saw a couple of the movies and read only a couple of the books before I lost the continuity and with work and all, never got any farther. Now I have to buy the books, because I see what all the fuss was about!
    Hope you take lots of pictures, both of Ireland, and the HP tour!

  40. We were in England for a big chunk of July. My husband is English, so we go every other year. This year we had tea at the ham yard hotel. It was really fun. It was a traditional tea with modern twists on the food served. Have fun on your trip, I just love that part of the world.

  41. We were in England for a big chunk of July. My husband is English, so we go every other year. This year we had tea at the ham yard hotel. It was really fun. It was a traditional tea with modern twists on the food served. Have fun on your trip, I just love that part of the world.

  42. We were in England for a big chunk of July. My husband is English, so we go every other year. This year we had tea at the ham yard hotel. It was really fun. It was a traditional tea with modern twists on the food served. Have fun on your trip, I just love that part of the world.