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Fowl Play Quilt
Don’t you just love when a traditional quilt design comes together in a contemporary and fresh way? A simple Windmill block, updated with the surprise of dimensional piecing, is the inspiration for the design for this quilt. Designer Diane Harris used the inspiration of a technique called Scrap Bin Geese posted online by fellow quilter Andy Knowlton of abrightcorner.com. Andy’s appealing block arrangement and technique incorporated traditional flying geese shapes. Diane’s interpretation, while similar, changed things up by adding in the surprise of dimensional piecing to create a folded triangle where the two strips meet. This textural addition creates a fun dimensional effect to the quilt and is an easy technique to master.
This is also a scrap quilt, so if you are “sew inclined” to save bits and pieces, you’ll have a great variety of prints already on hand to add to the beauty and texture that can only come from scrap quilting.
Designer Diane Harris notes that “scrap quilts are an opportunity to use fabrics you might consider unattractive. If the value (lightness or darkness) is correct, they’ll blend right in. If a fabric is splotchy or too dark, try turning it over and using the reverse side. ‘Fowl Play’ makes use of many ‘uglies,’ as well as the reverse side of numerous prints.”
Try your hand at making this quilt and arranging the fabrics in your own way! You’ll be glad you did!
Download this quilt pattern plus a dozen more in the July/August 2018 issue of Modern Patchwork.
Materials:
- 10-14 fat quarters* assorted light, low-volume prints for background
- 10-14 fat quarters assorted medium and dark gray prints for background
- Fat quarter each of 9 bright prings for Flying Geese triangles
- 4-½ yards backing
- Full-size batting
*Fat quarter = 18″ x 20″
Note: For maximum variety of background fabrics, dip into your stash first. This is a great project to use scrap and, leftover 2 ½” precut strips. Supplement your finds with additional fat quarters, fat eighths, or ¼-yard cuts to yield the total number of 2 ½” x 6 ½” rectangles noted in the cutting instructions. With planning, one fat quarter yields 16-22 rectangles.
