My name is Sandi Walton of Piecemeal Quilts.  I am from Wisconsin, and I’ve been quilting since 2003. I’ve been using EQ for a while now and I’m a DoYouEQ Artist. Check out my blog to learn more about me.

Have you seen some of the quilting books and magazines available now that feature individual blocks? Books like “Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favorite Designers” or “The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns: 4050 Pieced Blocks for Quilters” and magazines like Quiltmaker’s “100 Blocks. They’re wonderful resources for quilters, but they can become even better resources when you use EQ7 to see how the block would look repeated, recolored, twisted or with different layouts.

Check out this modern block I created in EQ7. I’m calling it Packer Tracker because it looks a bit like train tracks and it’s in Green Bay Packer colors (hey, I’m from Wisconsin).

It’s a relatively easy block, graphic and fun, but… how would it look in a quilt? Let’s try it in a straight layout:

Or with every other block rotated 1/4 turn:

What happens if we recolor it and play with the color placement?

Then remove some blocks for extra negative space and play with the color even more?

Or put it in a custom set and recolor it again?

Fun, isn’t it? Let’s try another modern style block. Here’s a log cabin variation:

I’m calling it googly eyes, and you can see why in this straight sashed setting:

And even more in this setting with every other block rotated 1/4 turn:

It’s a little less eye-like with some of the colors changed:

And even less with a print fabric added:

As you can see, the variations are endless – and endlessly entertaining!.

(Note: These blocks are not taken from the books I mentioned, just quickies I drew up that are inspired by the modern aesthetic.)