Transparent Building Blocks {Finished Quilt & Pattern Release}

I was so delighted to get to make this baby quilt for my friends. Now that the quilt is finished and on the way to them, today I get to share the finished quilt with you. The Transparent Building Blocks digital quilt pattern is also complete and available as of today in the Quilting Jetgirl digital pattern shop.

Transparent Building Blocks

The design was driven by wanting to overlay basic shapes that remind me of the large wooden building blocks I used to play with as a child. Interestingly, my memory of those blocks also includes a quilt. As I recall, we kept the large wooden blocks wrapped up in a quilt that could be drug around the house (at least drug from my toddler perspective) and used for quick tidy up.

Fabrics & Materials

Transparent Building Blocks

I wrote the pattern prior to making the baby quilt so that I could test the pattern as I sewed. The fabrics I used are Kona Navy (background), Freespirit Light Jade (Fabric A), and Kona Enchanted (Fabric B and binding). To piece the quilt, I used 50wt Aurifil 2784 (Dark Navy). To quilt the spiral, I used 50wt Aurifil 4093 (Jade), which matches the darker Kona Enchanted. I used Quilter’s Dream Dream Green for the batting.

I love to report on the sizes of my quilts, and since I prewashed the quilt (after these photos) prior to shipping it to my friends, here are all the sizes for this baby quilt:

• After piecing – 54 1/2″ square
• After quilting, squaring, and binding – 53 3/4″ square (1.4% shrinkage)
• After first wash – 52 1/2″ square (3.7% shrinkage)

Quilting

Transparent Building Blocks

I realize that I’ve been using a spiral as a quilting option a lot recently, but once again it felt like the best choice for this quilt. There a lot of ways that the blocks can be arranged in this quilt, but the baby quilt I made was chosen to showcase a pinwheel in the center as a nod toward all of the windmills in the area where my friends live. To help give a sense of motion and movement to the pinwheel, I thought the spiral would be the perfect choice. I use my walking foot for the entire spiral, and I set my spacing to be at 1″ again for this quilt. I’ve previously written about how I get started with spiral quilting if you are interested to give it a try.

Transparent Building Blocks Pattern Details

The Transparent Building Blocks digital quilt pattern is perfect for anyone looking to give a transparency pattern a try, learn to piece curves, or looking for a striking modern quilt. The pattern offers three sizes: baby, lap, and queen, although with this block based design, it can easily be customized to fit your needs!

Transparent Building Blocks – Pieced Quilt Back

Transparent Building Blocks is on sale in my pattern shop as a digital pattern at a special introductory price of $10 through Sunday, August 8th. Once you make a Transparent Building Blocks quilt of your own, you can share it via social media using the hashtag #TransparentBuildingBlocksQuilt.

THANK YOU!

I would like to thank Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs for her technical editing, advice, and consultation throughout the pattern writing and quilting process.

Alternate Options

Alternate Baby Layouts

As I mentioned above, there are lots of fun ways that you can combine the blocks in the final layout. The back cover showcases several layout options for the lap and queen size versions, and above are just a few of the other fun options to consider for the baby size.

Transparent Building Blocks

Remember, you can get the Transparent Building Blocks pattern on sale in my pattern shop for only $10 through Sunday, August 8th.

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Finished or Not Friday and TGIFF.