Free Quilt Block

The Glow of Friendship – FREE Christmas block

Today I join Pat Sloan to give you an early Christmas present – our FREE block, The Glow of Friendship.

Pat and I met years ago through the wonderful world of quilters and we have forged a friendship across the seas, an international dateline and opposite hemispheres. One of my favourite projects to work on with Pat was the Splendid Sampler I and II. We brought designers from all over the world together (twice) to form a community of Splendid quilters.

This Christmas block is a tribute to all friendships across the globe. The split star in the middle is the star that resides in the sky we share above us and the cool and warm colours reflect the cool climate of a northern hemisphere Christmas and the warm climate of a southern hemisphere Christmas (Well, actually it’s unbearably hot and humid down here). While Pat will be enjoying a roast by the fireside as the snow gently falls, we will be throwing another prawn on the barbie (BBQ) and diving into the pool.

2020 has been a challenging year and this Christmas it is an opportunity to be grateful for what we have, including our friends in far off places.

The Glow of Friendship Block

The block finishes at 12″ x 12″. A great friendship block to make for a Quilting Bee or keep multiplying the block to make a wall hanging, table runner or quilt.

Four blocks make a 24″ x 24″ wall hanging.

The block is not difficult to make. It uses the following techniques and block types:

  • Flying geese
  • Half square triangles
  • Corner triangles
  • Strip piecing
  • Matching points

See my post on Matching points where I give you some hints on how to match points.

Fun things to do with this block

I love to play in EQ8 and make designs using different fabrics. Below I used the reds and greens from Pat’s new collection, Morrison Park. Perfect for a festive themed quilt.

Rotate the blocks and you can form a ribbon pattern.

Fat quarter shop has a great collection of Morrison Park , Pat’s newest collection. Visit my previous post for another free block using Morrison Park.

Rotate the blocks again and voila another design appears. (Deer Christmas by Urban Chiks for Moda).

Download your Glow of Friendship block here

This 4 block wall hanging is made using textured solids from my stash in blues and teals (Northern hemisphere) and reds and pinks (Southern Hemisphere). Quilted with the beautiful 50wt cotton threads from Aurifil, #2437 and #2805 using a poinsettia quilting design.

I hope you enjoy making this block.

Visit Pat to discover what she used to make the block and don’t forget to show Pat and me your Glow of Friendship blocks by using hashtag #GlowOfFriendshipBlock

So no matter where you are in the world, reach out this Christmas to your faraway friends and show them the glow of your friendship.

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