Summer Sampler Block #3 | Southwest Highways Block

Welcome to week #3 of the Summer Sampler and my Southwest Highways block!

I wanted to create a block that was simple and graphic. If you’re new to paper piecing it’s a technique that allows you to get sharp points and extremely accurate piecing. If you’d like a walk through of this technique I’ll get out all my tools for the studio’s June 8th Open Studio. Of course you can always bring a paper piecing project to any open studio. Can’t make it to Seattle and would like to know some tips and tricks? Lee of Freshly Pieced has a great post and Faith covers paper piecing for beginners here.

The Southwest stole my heart in about 1993. The colors of the landscape and their reflection in the cultures around you are really the inspiration for this block.

After numerous road trips from Michigan I caught a ride with a friend heading to school in Arizona. I settled in Flagstaff working for the Winter Sun Trading Company in their herbal apothecary. From the herb room I could take in the colors of the native art we sold in the front room. The artists often used natural pigments for their art work. I certainly could have added some turquoise to this block! Whether inside or out it’s hard to escape the colors of the Southwest when you live there. They’re reflected everywhere you go.

Just a reminder, you can sign up for this quilt along at any time. When you sign up after the start date, you will get all the patterns that we’ve release to-date. You can catch up on past blocks on your own schedule and continue quilting along with the group as we release weekly block patterns.

Time doesn’t allow for me to complete all the blocks, so I decided to pick mine apart and make the two panels from the triangles to make a box pouch after adding some background fabric to the top and bottom of the triangles. This is one of my favorite projects to make with orphaned blocks.