• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Diary of a Quilter - a quilt blog
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Tutorials
  • My Quilts
  • Shop
  • Favorite Supplies
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Tutorials
  • My Quilts
  • Shop
  • Favorite Supplies
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • Start Here
    • Tutorials
    • My Quilts
    • Shop
    • Favorite Supplies
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Blog » blocks

    Free Quilt Block Challenge – Sampler Quilt

    February 3, 2021 by Amy 8 Comments

    I’m so excited! Riley Blake Designs has announced a brand new free Quilt Block Challenge for 2021!

    Quilt Block Challenge featuring blocks from Riley Blake Designers

    Each week for the next 16 weeks there will be a new 10″ x 10″ quilt block pattern by a Riley Blake Designer. And each week there will be a free printable PDF pattern to go with it. The final week Riley Blake will release the sampler quilt layout (it’s a surprise!) including fabric requirements and cutting/assembling instructions to finish your quilt.

    This week’s block is a Pinwheel Star designed by Amanda of Jedi Craft Girl. She made her block using her fun new fabric collection, Mod Meow that’s coming to stores this month.

    Visit Amanda’s blog to download this week’s free quilt block pattern PDF.

    Riley Blake just released a bunch of new colors in their solids Confetti Cottons range. I love Christopher’s block version in all solids. 

    Red White and Blue Quilt block - part of the Riley Blake Quilt Block Challenge - a new free quilt block tutorial every week

    Here is my block with my color/fabric pull for my quilt. I am already jazzed about where this is going!

    I wanted to push myself out of my traditional white-background-all-the-time look. I’ve seen a bunch of navy quilts that have had me smitten recently, so I decided to head that direction.

    For my solids palette I’m using Riley Blake Confetti Cottons in Cloud, Tearose, Redwood, Songbird, and Oxford Blue. The Oxford Blue is a brand new color for Riley Blake and I love it! Has kind of a faded-navy feel – so it reads blue in pictures and not black. I have a feeling this is going to be one of my go to colors.

    And it’s going to be the main color for this quilt.

    In addition to the solids, I’m mixing in the reds, whites, and blues from my upcoming Notting Hill collection. This collection is going to hit stores by the end of the month. YAY!!! (If you’re looking to preorder, and to make sure you don’t miss it, Stitches N Giggles, Lou Lou’s Fabric Company, The Fat Quarter Shop, and Fort Worth Fabric Studio have preorder status available.)

    You may remember last year’s Quilt Block challenge. It was a lot of fun, and a great resource for learning how to make 12 classic quilt blocks. (It was also a little hectic as we came up with the plan as something to keep us busy right as the world shut down, so we were kind of designing on the fly.)

    This time everything is planned to perfection with uniform printable patterns and a list fabric requirements ahead of time and a new block available every Tuesday until mid-June. Woohoo! You can find the printable fabric requirements list here.

    The blocks this year are a fun, unique step up from the classic blocks last year. They’re a great skill builder with a variety of designs. I’m so excited to sew-along!

    If you’re looking for additional details, you can find everything you need on the RBD Block Challenge Page.  And if you are sewing along as well, share your makes on Instagram using #confetticottons, #rileyblakedesigns, #iloverileyblake, and tag @rileyblakedesigns.

    Happy Sewing!

    POST UPDATE! To see the finished 2021 Sampler Quilt Click HERE.

    Share this:

    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to print (Opens in new window)

    Related

    « Did you know Jane Austen made a Quilt?
    Top Baby Quilt Tutorials »

    Filed Under: blocks, Riley Blake Designs Tagged With: free patterns, sampler quilt ideas

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sue

      February 04, 2021 at 2:33 pm

      Thank you for the links and particularly the alternative color pics. I’m going to have see another week or two of the patterns before I decide on fabrics. Not wild about these colors.

      Reply
    2. Andrea Skinner

      February 04, 2021 at 4:36 pm

      Hi Amy! Would you be able to let us know the yardage for each of the fabric choices that you are doing? Your choices are perfect for my mom and I would love to make this quilt for her.

      Reply
      • Amy

        February 05, 2021 at 3:01 pm

        I don’t have exact fabric requirements because I’m going to decide on color/fabric choices as I go (sorry, not helpful, I know). I don’t have the patterns yet for all of the blocks, so haven’t decided on color placement. But I can say that I totaled up the background yardage (which in the Oxford Blues) – which is by far the biggest chunk. It’s about 3 3/4 yards (I’m erring on the generous size). I’d get about 1/2 yard of the rest. I haven’t decided for sure on which color I’ll use for the contrasting sashing, but I’m leaning toward Songbird at this point.

        Reply
    3. In The Boon Docks

      February 04, 2021 at 6:53 pm

      Love your block! The dark background looks to be fun and something I want to try! If not for you I would not know about the sew along! Think I’ll join! Thanks for links!

      Reply
    4. debee109

      February 04, 2021 at 9:29 pm

      Ditto thanks. Do like the alternative colours. Be interested to know if you have decided to replace the colours ie the red check is always going to replace the colour Chive, Songbird is going to replace Lodge Pole etc. or simply decided to use different colours within your palette just for this block. Thank you.

      Reply
      • Amy

        February 05, 2021 at 2:57 pm

        I’m going to decide colors and prints as I go. Sorry that’s not too helpful…

        Reply
    5. Gen

      February 10, 2021 at 8:01 am

      Just to clarify from your response to Debee109, you are not subbing one color for a specific color on the pattern, but just deciding as you go? I have very limited access to nice fabrics and would need to order – so this makes it very difficult, but I agree it is VERY hard to sub colors when you don’t know what future blocks will look like…………….and I have very limited quilting/picking colors experience. But this sure sounds like fun! Do you know what size the finished quilt is?
      Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
      • Amy

        February 10, 2021 at 12:35 pm

        The finished quilt is going to be 70″ x 70″. Here’s something to help reduce stress – if you’ve got one unifying background (such as white, or in this case Oxford Blue) and you pick a simple palette of coordinating fabrics (especially in a traditionally popular color combination like red, white, and blue) you can’t go wrong. The background color ties everything together nicely and lets the blocks pop on their own. This could be a fun project to test your color and fabric choices! You’ve got this!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    amy smart headshot

    My name is Amy Smart and I'm a quilter, pattern and fabric designer, wife & mom. Excited to have you here!

    Let's Sew →

    THE PERFECT PLACE TO START

    CHECK OUT MY

    I Sew With

    Baby Lock Sewing Machines

    Favorite Fabric Shops

    Come Sew With Me – Craftsy Class

    Pre-cuts Shortcuts Video Craftsy Class with Amy Smartma

    Top Posts & Pages

    • Quilts Gifted + Seasons of Life
    • Diary of a Quilter by Amy Smart - a Quilt blog
    • May Quilt Block Patterns
    • Subscriber Confirmation
    • Lattice Baby Quilt Tutorial
    • How to Make a Manx Quilt Block
    • Tutorials
    • Sorting, Saving, and Using Fabric Scraps
    • Fast Four Patch Quilt Tutorial
    • 25 Favorite Charm Square Quilts & Projects
    Tips for Choosing Fabric for a Quilt
    How to Choose a Sewing Machine for Quilting, tips featured by top US quilting blogger, Diary of a Quilter
    Patchwork on Point Crib Quilt Tutorial

    Star Baby Quilt Tutorial

    Star Baby Quilt Tutorial
    Fast Shortcuts to make multiple Half-Square Triangles

    My Riley Blake Fabric Collections

    Categories

    Social

    • Facebook
    • Flickr
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS

    More of Me

     photo splendid_button_4 1.jpg
     photo Babylock_Logo_300x150.png imanauthor
     
    Follow

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up HERE! for weekly emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • FAQ

    This site uses affiliate links:

    I make a small commission on some purchases with no additional cost to the reader.

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 Diary of a Quilter - a quilt blog