Last year, when the pandemic was raging and spirits were low, one of my fellow Riley Blake designers sent out an impromptu email asking if we wanted to participate in a block challenge- the response was huge! It was a light in the gray as something to look forward to each week. I learned a few new block techniques, and made some classic blocks I’d never done before.

My final Block Challenge quilt from 2020, using Flutter and Shine fabrics.

This year, in keeping with that community spirit, Riley Blake is hosting another block challenge- this time, designers are sharing new or classic block designs every Tuesday from February-July (except for 4th Tuesdays, those are catch-up days!) and the final layout is a mystery!

Each block pattern is available as a free, downloadable PDF on the Riley Blake Designs website. You can find more information about the block challenge HERE if you want to sew along!

For my quilt, I’ll be using my new fabric line, Pure Delight. I’m going on a wild hair here and using the blue Grid print as my background! I think it will be the perfect summer quilt, in the end.

This is the first week and Amanda of Jedi Craft Girl shared the first block, the Pinwheel Star. Each block will finish at 10″ square.

This was a fun one! Pretty quick, I did this all with chain piecing in every step, which speeds up the process even more.

I really paid attention so my scallop print would all be in the same direction 🙂 and it worked out okay! The block is already hanging out on my design wall, ready for next week’s addition! I’ll be sharing my blocks each week (probably not on each Tuesday, but definitely the week of) and my own block design will be week 7- I love it… so stay tuned!

Keep up with the Block Challenge Patterns HERE