Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Riverbank

Today's block on the Quilt Along is an interesting study in line. It's called Riverbank, and it was designed by Tiffany Stephens (can't find a link).

I love the one in the book.  I thought it looked like a fantastic way to use scraps in a similar way to a Chinese Coins quilt.

Riverbank by Tiffany Stephens

When I made mine, I didn't like it nearly as much.  It was immediately obvious that using a diagonal print in between the rows of horizontal scraps was critical to the design.  When I chose a fabric that read as a stripe, I thought that would be enough.  In fact, using a horizontal stripe might have been worse than using a solid or a vertical stripe.

Frequent readers will be shocked at what happened next:  I ripped it out.  We all know how I feel about that!  But it was only two seams and I needed to fix it.  Luckily I had another piece of the "stripe" that was big enough to cut it again on the diagonal.  I wanted to use the exact same placement instead of remaking the block with different scraps so that it would be a fair comparison.

I like the resulting block so much better, don't you?

If you'd like to learn more about line and other design elements, try reading Artquiltmaker's blog or listening to her podcasts with Sandy from Quilting for the Rest of Us. 



Tweet