Quilts We’ve Made: Tumbling Blocks

Tumbling Blocks 3

We love the three dimensional aspect of tumbling blocks.  This quilt was made in 2006 for my son’s graduation and it needed to look manly.  No overt florals or pinks, so it was a heck of a time investment finding enough geometric prints in other colors, and in three contrasting values.  Tumbling Blocks

This was made so long ago that the ladies in my quilt guilt assured me this pattern could only be done by hand.  I was determined to do it by machine, so all the diamonds were cut using a handmade 60 degree plastic template.  All the pieces were arranged by color and value and then sewn together my machine.  I marked each intersecting corner at 1/4″ and then stitched to that exact point, much the same way we do grandmother’s flower garden by machine.Tumbling Blocks detail

For the finish, I cut border pieces to finish the straight edge and then added a small additional border.  This makes the blocks kind of float in a group.  The backing fabric (not shown) is a spaceship flannel print, so it was quilted with variegated thread in geometric circles and stars to mimic the backing fabric.Tumbling Blocks 2

There are so many fun geometric fabrics available now that this would be really fun to do again.  There are also rulers and other things to make this easier than it used to be.  In the old days, my quilt guild was amazed to see this pattern didn’t have to be done by hand. All of my son’s friends want this quilt, and they tell me that their mothers don’t love them nearly this much.  We would like to do another one with really modern solids, basics, and metallics.  Stay tuned and we’ll share our progress.

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4 Comments

  1. How do you put a border on the quilt when finished with all the raw edges being left? I’m ready to edge my quilt. Rod Overla

    1. As stated in the post: “For the finish, I cut border pieces to finish the straight edge and then added a small additional border.” Basically, we used the same fabric as the border to make pieces that would finish in a straight line. If you didn’t want to figure out these other shapes, you can just trim your quilt top in a straight line. Just leave 1/4″ seam allowance if you want to do this.

  2. Hello! Im from Traverse City, MI. I would like to know or someone show me. How to do a queen quilt with only top and backing, no batting. What I’ve seen is wall quilts. Using spray adheasive, well I want to use my domestic home machine and free motion quilt. Won’t my needle become sticky? Should I let the spray dry couple days before quilting? Should I not spray adhesive just free motion quilt 2 pieces together? I sure hope and pray someone can let me know what and how.

    1. Hi Jackie, I have never quilted a quilt without batting, but I do think you could do it. As for the spray, I don’t think you have to wait that long to dry. We use 505 basting spray and we never get gunk on our needle from that. Spray, set with an iron, and then quilt!

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