Making a Sampler Quilt-Part 2

Yesterday, I gave you a couple of ideas for using your Nancy Cabot blocks in a sampler quilt using a straight set layout. Today I am going to discuss on point or diagonal layouts.

The first quilt layout shown below sets your Nancy Cabot blocks on point with alternate plain squares. Unlike the quilt shown yesterday with the straight set layout (below right), the on point layout requires setting triangles to make the sides and ends straight. There is an excellent tutorial at C&T Publishing's blog that explains this concept very well. The example they give is even for 6" blocks!!

Another idea is to add sashing and cornerstones between the blocks like this-

Or add sashing and cornerstones and eliminate the plain blocks and add more Nancy Cabot blocks.

Change the sashing to white to match the background fabric and get yet another look-

Or, change the color of the setting triangles to match your border and your quilt could look like this-

For a queen size quilt, set on point, you will need 162 Nancy Cabot blocks.  If you alternate every other block with a plain block, you only need 72 Nancy Cabot blocks and 56 plain blocks. Remember to cut your plain blocks at 6 1/2".

The number of blocks I am giving you is an estimate. If you are making the quilt to fit a bed you really need to take into account the thickness of the mattress and box springs and how far you want the quilt to drop down the sides when deciding how large to make your quilt.

If you are looking for a smaller project to use your Nancy Cabot blocks in, a table runner is an option. Here are a couple of ideas I came up with-

This table runner finishes at approx. 16 1/2" X 42". Another option would be to use four different blocks.

This square table runner or table mat finishes at 28"x28".  Or use five different blocks as in the runner shown below.

Both styles of table runners are shown with a 1 1/2" inner border and a 2 1/2" outer border. Of course, you can make the borders any size and use as many blocks as you like to make a table runner the size that you want.
        
The possibilities are really endless! I hope the ideas I am showing you will spur your imagination and I'd love to see any ideas any of you have.  Send me an email and I'll post any pictures you send or leave your ideas in the comments. Either way, I'd love to see your ideas.

Tomorrow-Making a Sampler Quilt-Part 3