16-patches and X-blocks in a quilt surface.

Last autumn, I decided to make two different projects that would feature hundreds of 2,5-inch squares. The first one has already been quilted, and I should only label, trim, and bind it. In this post, I’ll tell you more about the second one.

Both projects launched in September 2025. For this one, I made a test block of 16 squares and one half of the needed X block:

That is how far this project progressed until the end of December. The first project was almost done and I needed to review the situation. I had quite a few 16-blocks left over:

And I also wanted to make more, using a different design. The blocks in the other project always had four same-hued squares running from corner to corner. In the new project, I wanted the 16-patches to be more random.

As soon as I had a few complete blocks done, I made a small composition on the floor – just to see how the blocks might look together:

Soon, I had a few more blocks, and wanted to set up a “mini quilt” with the intended design. See if you can spot the glaring mistake which I didn’t even notice:

The X blocks followed my scrappy principles: they always featured more than one “white” fabric. I never want to run out of a fabric, and this is the best way to avoid it – by accepting that blocks will not have a uniform colour.

I’ve noticed that it’s even possible to use very pure whites together with creamy whites and even with light beige or grey fabrics.

It’s like the quilting guru Angela Walters says: “The best way to match fabrics is to sew them together”. I’ve decided that I prefer the whites – or the blacks or greys – in my quilts to be different and just as patchwork-like as the colourful bits.

My design method is based on making the necessary number of blocks and then organising them into a pleasing order. I usually don’t even plan my colours in advance.

One of my favourite phases in making a quilt is to take out the blocks I’ve made and see for the first time how they will look when they are all together.

This time, I organised both the X blocks and the 16-patches into three piles: those of light value, of medium value, and dark value. Note that when the blocks feature many colours like here, there will be many in the medium value pile.

Next, I laid out the light value blocks into the top row, placing the very lightest ones in the middle. The light value piles were soon gone, and I moved on to the medium value ones, setting up one row after another until those blocks were gone, too.

The dark value blocks came last, forming the bottom of the quilt.

Organising the darker blocks on the bottom of my design and the lighter ones on top makes sense to me. Darker colours seem heavier and thus fall to the bottom. Lighter colours seem lighter also in weight, and they belong on the top rows.

In the finished design, you can see that the value differences between the 16-patches are small!

I feel that it is better to be intentional in the design phase. Because I don’t have a big design wall, I organise my quilt blocks on the floor, and cannot spend a lot of time considering the position of each block. Even though this method may not always bring results which other people would notice as intentional, it works for me.

Next, this quilt surface will go to my trusted longarmer Soile at Töölön tilkkupaja. And I’m already working on my next quilt!