Colorful cats for October 2014

I had already thought of, written the directions & made the samples for our December 2014 Facebook Quilt Block Swap Group block, but I find that sometimes there is residue that lingers.  So, yes, that one did influence this one, just like that one was influenced by the Rainbow Connection that ran 2013 through January 2014.  Hopefully, there is enough in the mix that no one feels like they are making the exact same thing over & over again.

The block we are making is the very straightforward Puss In The Corner which is a center square with either lighter or darker borders & the same fabric in the center repeats in each of the four corners.  The block will be 8.5" unfinished/8" finished. 

You can use as few as two fabrics & they need to be a light & a dark of the same color.  I don't care which color it is (although not white or black, obviously).  You can use two different shades of pink or green or orange or red or blue or brown or even gray (if I left out a color it was an oversight, not a restriction).  It does not matter which you use for the center & corner blocks & which for the borders just so long as one is clearly lighter & the other is clearly darker & they are both indisputably the same color (no yellow corners & centers with orange borders PLEASE).  I understand it can be hard to find single color fabrics w/out some white or black so some white or black can be used but the idea is a light of one color & a dark of SAME. 

You have the option of doing something extra with the center block if you want; if you do decide to use other fabrics, they must be in that same color OR a mix of that color &/or white &/or black.  In general, these will be fabrics that read-as-solid (are the same color throughout) although some white or even a very little black would be OKay.  Please DO NOT use a fabric that is more black &/or white than whichever color you choose & DO NOT use a fabric that has more than one color (a blue with green polka dots, for example would NOT be correct, or pink with yellow flowers or anything with any different color).

Begin with a 4.5" square.  This can be a single fabric OR it can be pieced from lights, mediums & darks of your chosen single color.  You can make a traditional 4-patch or 9-patch or what-have-you so long as you end up with a 4.5" square. IF you use a third (or fourth or whatever fabric, this is where you will use it).  I am going to come back to this, later actually, so lets move on.

From your second fabric (or third or fourth, if that is what it has come to, depending on what you did for your center) you will need four strips, 2.5" by 4.5".  Please do NOT use this fabric anywhere else in the block.  In other words, if you do choose to piece a center block, this fabric should NOT be in it.  The idea is for the borders to be clearly different than the center & repeating fabrics can blur this..

From your first fabric, or one of the fabrics used in the 4.5" center, or yet another fabric that is light to the border's dark OR dark to the border's light but otherwise the same color, you will need four more 2.5" squares.  The corners should all be from the same single fabric & they should be either a light to contrast with the dark border fabric OR a dark to contrast with the light border fabric.

• Again, the corners & the center (if it is not pieced) should be light or dark. 
• The side borders should be whichever (dark or light) the corners are not. 
• The fabric you use on the side pieces (those 4.5" by 2.5" that press against the edges of the enter block) should NOT be used anywhere else in the completed block. 
• If you elect to piece the center square, you will need to find a third (or fourth or fifth) fabric that is in the same color (i.e. all shades of blue).  You can use at least some of the corner fabric in the center block; you CANNOT use your side border rectangles anywhere else in the block even if you piece the center

Now back to the centers.  You can use just one fabric, the same as your corner posts if you wish.  You can make any traditional or non-traditional 4-patch or 9-patch.  You can even go crazy with open biased edges if you like (usually I discourage this but since you will be the one adding a border to it, go for it). 

Lastly something a bit different.  You are welcome to send as many sets of five as you like (we always swap in sets of five unless you are sending a 6th block in which case you send six & get five back) but FOR THIS SWAP ONLY within each set of five you are limited to one color family & you should not repeat that color in your second, third, etc. set.  This means if you make only one set they should all be a single color (all blue or all green or all orange).  If you make two sets each set should be one color but the two sets should be different from each other (one set of blue & the other of red or one set of purple & the other of brown  or whatever just so long as set one is one color & set two is a second color....& set three is a third color).  If you send more than FIVE sets (that would be 25 blocks in five different colors) then & only then can you repeat a color you have already used. 

These blocks are due in-house the last Saturday in October, which is October 25th.  This is one of our earlier last Saturday's, making October a short swap month.  I mention this because people have been caught by surprise in the past; the last day of October is a Friday & blocks are due the Saturday BEFORE not the Saturday after (which is in fact the first day of November).