December Free Project

Sometimes I get carried away when I am designing with EQ7.

I wanted to do something special for all my readers and subscribers to thank you for hanging out with me this year.  So I designed a special block just for you.

Click here to download the free pattern for this 12" block.

So here is where I start getting carried away.  I wanted to add a border so that when I put four of the blocks together I would get a square designs.  So I added a vine to the flower block.

Click here to download the bordered block.

So  here is what it looks like with the four blocks together.

I love this 24 x 24 pillow look and thought about some other arrangements for other Christmas decorating.  Here is my idea for a table runner.

Two squares of four block. 24 x 48 Pretty simple, but still fun. However, if you are not an applique girl then you might break out in a sweat trying to do 8 blocks. Then I thought of something simpler and less square.

I really like this one.  Three 12" blocks on point and the little deco garden border blocks festooning the sides in reds and greens.  I might even make this one.  At 20 x 45 it is a great size for a holiday table.

So here is a table cloth sized quilt.  I liked the offset squares of flowers when I started rotating the blocks.  But the next one is simpler and leaves room for some pretty quilting.

So you can use these two free blocks to make any of these settings or just use the four in a square to make a pillow, candle mat, table topper, or wall hanging.

"It amazes me that a little bit of moving around changes the look of the block so much.  But wait till you see what happens when you start changing the color!"

So now I am starting to get really carried away in EQ7 and go back to the four block poinsettia arrangement and start playing with color.  I always see blue poinsettia fabric in the stores so I did a blue variation.

Wow, I loved that one, and the bit of purple really contrasted nicely with the blue.  Of course poinsettias don't really come in blue, but they do come in white and pink so I thought I would try a variation in first white, and then pink.

What do you think of the white one?  I loved this one too because it reminded me of those years as a teenager when I worked in the florist shop with my mom and sister.  There were so many gorgeous white poinsettias in the shop.  OK, so here is the pink version.

OK, so it's not really pink, but I loved the combination.  I started playing with my favorite EQ7 tool - random recolor - and it looked sorta pink, ok more red than pink. But I liked it anyway, and it was a bit less traditional for all you non traditionalists.

This is more like it.  I loved this pink version.  So romantic and victorian.  I picture it in a Country Home article on "A Victorian Christmas!"  It would fit just right in my pink and green bedroom.

Then I inverted the colors just for fun.  Peggy (www.connecttheblocks.com) this one is for you, the bling girl!  I would put crystals all over this for you.  It also matches my Easy Binding Winder!  Hohoho.

Doesn't that make you want to run for the pepto bismol?  Hahahaha  So I kept hitting the random recolor button and here is what I came up with.  Well actually this is only a small sample of what I came up with because once I started I couldn't stop.  But these were some of my faves.  Perhaps they will give you an idea about how you would like to color your blocks.

These colors looked Asian to me.  The gold behind the deep blues and purples looked so rich.  Not sure about the light blue border, but it does make a soft contrast (complement of orange is blue!) to the bold colors in the design.  Remember, these combinations are totally random!  Those of you who are especially anal and #don't do random may want to look away at this point.

This looked like ice to me.  If you are a "Frozen" fan you might like this. It  would go great in a little girl's bedroom filled with "Frozen" stuff.  The stonehenge fabrics in the background are such a cool texture, also.  Even the purple border provides a nice counterpoint.

This is another one of those warm variations with the blue violet and red against the gold.   Whooo doggy, that would light up someone's ugly brown sofa!

This one with the blues, grays and turquoise is much more "me".  I love these cool colors against a silver background.  I would so totally make this for my back porch wicker chairs and sofa.

While these muted greens and tans are not my colors I could see this in the cabin with rustic furniture and hunting decor.  My husband would call this the "camo" version.

This has a more modern look to me, especially those cool black and white print flower centers and lime green (the new neutral!) haha.  But I gotta tell you it is growing on me and I am more open to these colors than I once was.

This is for all of you K-State fans.  You know who you are and I didn't want to leave you out so when this variation popped up I save it just for you.

This one is for my friend Cara Gulati, cuz it is in her colors and style.  I think this would appeal to her.  Warm, rich, kinda kinky, but fun - always fun.

I can see you start to yawn so the show is over.  Hope you enjoyed playing along with me while I shared this project with you.  Download the free blocks (available only for 30 days) and share with me what you would do with them.

Thanks for hanging out with me in 2015.  I love each and every one of you.

PS.  Watch for my NEW block of the month coming in 2016!