The Many Shades and Sizes of Pumpkin

Fellow Quilters,

Today is a busy day – I have 2 fun events that I’m participating in this month and they both start today!  If you’re hopping over from Jen Shaffer’s 2021 Monthly Color Challenge, a warm welcome to you!  Feel free to browse through earlier posts, check out my other post today that’s part of the Quilt Block Mania monthly blog tour (can you say “free quilt blocks”?!?), and hit that Subscribe button on the right.  You can also subscribe to my newsletter at www.pattispatchwork.com for insider info on new patterns and subscriber-only specials – the link is at the bottom of the website main page.

So, fellow pattern designer Jen over at Patterns by Jen has been hosting a Monthly Color Challenge for a while now, and I learned of it late last year.  I thought “How fun!” and signed up for a couple of the months.  This year’s challenge is based on fruit and vegetable colors and includes a free block each month – hop on over to Patterns by Jen to download the pattern and even watch the video on how to create the monthly block.  Each block pattern is free for that month, after which it can be downloaded from Jen’s site for a very small fee.

June’s pumpkin-colored block

June’s block is pumpkin-colored, and even sort of pumpkin-shaped.  Just like pumpkins, it comes in a larger and smaller size.  I put the block into my Electric Quilt EQ8 designing program and started playing.

I wondered how this block might look in a modern setting, so I put it into a vertical strip quilt layout.  In the diagram on the left, the zigzag space between blocks seemed uneven so I added sew-&-flip triangles onto the corners of each block – what a difference!

Vertical strip quilt options

It’s now hard to tell where the blocks start and end.  I also used 3 shades of pumpkin in my blocks. Fun!

Then I played some more.

1st iteration of on-point blocks

I put the block into an on-point layout (left diagram), then recolored the alternate blocks a lighter shade of pumpkin (center diagram), then added sew-&-flip corners to my setting triangles to balance the hourglass “blocks” created where the 4 blocks meet.  So many options!

But wait!  There’s more!  I continued playing, this time combining the smaller blocks with the larger blocks in an on-point setting.  Initially, all the blocks are the same shade of pumpkin (left), then I recolored the smaller blocks and added darker triangles around them to change the look of the larger blocks – very interesting!

2nd go ’round of on-point blocks

Finally I gradated the shades of pumpkin in both blocks – light-to-dark in the larger blocks and dark-to-light in the smaller blocks, with light and medium-shaded triangles in the small block frames.  This one is my favorite, and so easy to create with the click of a mouse in EQ8.  What about you?  Which one of the 8 quilts do you prefer?

Hop on over to the other blogger’s sites to see what they’ve done with this month’s block and to get their fave pumpkin recipes:

Jen  Patterns by Jen

Wendy  Pieceful Thoughts

Crystal (available June 3rd)  Daybrook Designs

Fawn  Quilty Creations by Fawn

Raylee  Sunflower Stitcheries

Andi  True Blue Quilts

Ashli  Quilt2endALZ

Joanne  Everyone Deserves a Quilt

And pop over to Patterns by Jen for your chance at one or more of these awesome prizes being offered this quarter – simply make a block and post a pic in the link-up by the end of the month to be eligible for these prizes:

Dragonfly’s Quilting Design Studio – Goodie Bag*

Bea Quilter – PDF Pattern

For the Love of Geese – PDF Pattern

True Blue Quilts – Book: Monochromatic Quilts Amazing Variety*

Make Modern Magazine – 6 month subscription

Island Batik – Fat Quarter Bundle*

Benartex – Fabric Bundle*

Quilters Dream Batting – 60 x 60 Dream Poly*

The Warm Company – 90 x 108 Warm and Plush 100% Cotton

Appliques Quilts and More – $10 gift certificate

Fat Quarter Shop – Gift Certificate

DayBrook Designs – 2 PDF Patterns

Patterns By Jen – Tucker Trimmer 1® ruler*

Those marked with * are for US residents only. Prize laws vary throughout different countries.

Did someone say recipe?!?  So, typically we think of pumpkin as a Fall food, but no reason not to enjoy that pumpkin goodness throughout the year.  I found the perfect recipe for lazy Saturday mornings at the cottage/cabin/campsite – Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes, courtesy of Tasteofhome.

Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes

Cooked up with some bacon or sausages, they make for a mighty tasty breakfast before a day of canoeing/hiking/cycling.  Or maybe serve them with cinnamon-spiced whipped cream – yum!  Better make a double batch!!

Cheers,

Patti