Bow-tie settings

I still have bow ties on my quilting brain, and I’ve been making more blocks using my folded bow-tie method. For a how-to, see my Feb. 26 post: http://quiltstoriescynthia.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html .


On my design wall, I experimented with different ways to set them. The example below is a simple arrangement—all blocks are set the same way on the diagonal.

In the next example, all blocks are set straight. You would have to fill in the triangular spaces on the sides if you used this setting.

Below is the way Alex Anderson set her bow-tie blocks in the last issue of The Quilt Life magazine. See the quilt on the cover here: http://www.americanquilter.com/quilt_life/

This final example below is the setting I plan to use with these particular blocks. The ends of the bow ties are in sort of a four-patch arrangement, creating a negative-space octagon, a lattice-like effect across the quilt.

I have only about 20 more blocks to make with these Civil War reproduction fabrics, and then I’ll begin to put the quilt top together. I haven’t figured out what to do about the border yet, but I came upon a sale, so I purchased yardage (not just fat quarters) of several fabrics so I’d have some choices.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s a fine early spring day here in Tennessee at my daughter’s house. Daffodils are up and the forsythia is blooming. My granddaughter’s school is on spring break, so we’ll go outside, walk around the neighborhood and enjoy the sunshine.