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.
I love the red and greens from Morrison Park quilt! Do you have the quantities of fabric I should purchase to make this quilt?
Thank you and Pat for sharing this lovely pattern. I will make it in red, whit, and blue!
Thank you for the beautiful pattern. Hope you have a Merry Christmas.
Thank you. Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2021 to you and your family.
Thank you kindly for this block. It is beautiful. What a lovely way to say how much you love someone.
Thank you, Ellen. Quilting is a wonderful way to share our love on a global scale.
Love it!
Thank you
what a wonderful friendship. the block is beautiful and I want to share it with my quilting friends. Thank you. I live Utah so we are cold right now. Karen Burt
Thank you. It will be a lovely project to share with your quilting friends. It is so hot today, I would welcome some snow.
Love this block. I’m playing with color of fabrics.
I’d love to make 3 of the 4 blocks. For friends.
I think 4 fat quarters should do 2. I think.
I’ll post. May be a couple days. As I have a famy funeral on Mond .
Maybe get 1 done be4 I go
Love yr block.
I’m looking forward to seeing your blocks.
I can not get block pattern to download
Depending on your web browser it should download to your PC. Sometimes it does it in the background.
This is such an awesome block, thank you for sharing it with us!
Thank you, Rosalee.
A wonderful block, Jane, with sew many possibilities. Many thanks for sharing it with us!
Thank you Karen.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful block with all of us, everywhere! It will make a wonderful gift. Happy Holidays
My pleasure. That is the one thing I love about technology, it has allowed us to connect all over the world.
Wo beautiful block Jane thankyou for sharing
Thank you Shirley.
Thank-you for this versatile block featuring one of my favourite images – the star. What a star you are Jane. Happy Christmas may you stay safe and well and looking forward for 2021 with so many good thing to come to you.
Wishing you a happy Christmas and a wonderful 2021. The star is one of my favourite quilting blocks. I don’t know what star I am. I will have to think about it.
Very pretty block. Love the meaning.
Thank you.
Thank you, Veronica.
This looks lovely, I will start soon, thank you so much for this pattern, from the Netherlands
Dankuwel. I would love to see your block when you are finished.
Thank you Jane for a beautiful block! I can’t wait to try it out. I love the way it looks as a 4 block wall hanging!
Diane Downes
Salisbury, Maryland
I am glad you like it. I would love to see what you make.
Thank you..
Enjoy! Don’t forget to show me your finished block.
I absolutely love, love, love this block set! But, I can’t download the link here nor on Pat’s website. I can see a Christmas and Valentine’s Day piece made with this, a baby quilt, and wedding present. There are so many wonderful ideas for this design. I can’t wait, until the link is fixed!
The download link is in this post and depending on what app you are using for web browsing it should go to your download folder.
Thank you so much for the pattern. I too love the wall hanging! This is so generous of you.