I have only made a sample block once. That was at a class and the teacher instructed us to make one. I usually pick fabrics I really like to make a project so I don't take the time. An idea is to make a sampler quilt out of all those sample blocks and it would be a record of all your quilts.

Vicky

I never have, but like Vicky, I usually pick fabrics I really like.

I never do, but on the other hand, I have been known to finish several blocks and even put them together, expecting to go on that way for the whole quilt, but then hate them (for the bed they were intended for, at least) and switch to something else.

The worst time was when I decided for a batik 9-to-4 that (1) I had better use the same background fabric for the whole thing, and (2) All those very dark squares with pictures in them wouldn't look good on a queen-sized bed.

It ended up as a large lap quilt with plenty of squares (Yes, I had cut them all out, right at the beginning!) left over for making bags and other things.

I always do, but I do mostly so I don't have to look at a pattern to make each block. i can then set my one block there as a guide to make sure all my pieces are correct. I do it sometimes to figure where I am goign to put each color but I haven't been in the situation where I hated the colors.

Lynette

Vicki I like your idea of a sampler quilt ,that is if the blocks turn out the way I want them too.But what I'm talking about is getting it all cut out chain piecing all the HST"s flying Geese or what ever the pattern calls for,finally getting a block put together,looking at it and going OH MY GOSH WHAT WAS I THINKING!So from now on I'm going to cut just what I need for one block ,sew it together and see if I like it before continuing with the cutting and sewing. I like to use mostly fabric from my stash but will go to the fabric store to buy just the right shade of a color I think will look good with whatever I'm making then as Biwako said end up "hating it"!Into the box with all the other little half finished UFO"s(in this case guess it could be called "unidentifiable fabric objects")and thats where they stay with no good intentions of ever doing anything with them. I always feel guilty when I notice them because I don't like wasting fabric.
Biwako, at least you made something useful out of your mistake! Wish I could say the same.Maybe some day I will make a really ,really scrappy all different patterns Quilt!
Yvonne

Making a sample block is a good thing to do to check out your colors and color placement which I am very guilty of not doing and ended up with some not so good project.

I am now using a design board....I know you live in a small apartment but if you can get a piece of flannel up on a wall or door, ect. to audition your sample block you will have a much better visual picture.....or if you can get your sample block on a white wall and look through the viewfinder of your camera it also gives you a better visual picture.....I am no expert by any means....putting colors together is not easy for many including me...so I hope there will be some suggestions to help us color challenged quilters.
Jean

No, I never have.

No, but I think about it a lot before starting.

I will if the block is complicated (for me) with many pieces or an unfamiliar piecing is done. There have been several times that I will change my mind on a block after doing a test block. It's a good way to use of the ugly fabric in my stash :). Then I don't feel so guilty about throwing it away!

Rebecca

I'm a self-taught quilter, from reading quilting books & quilting magazines. I almost always in the past 10 yrs. have made sample blocks for my projects.

For me, it's largely to audition the assembly technique, see if I like it & it's manageable. For instance, something w/ Y seams (inset or partial seams), I'm not great at them, so I did the block first to make sure I could at least do them. That block (12") had a total of 64 pieces to piece, I also wanted to check I could do this w/out losing my mind (yep, I can).

But also, I find it useful to do. If I don't like the block for whatever reason or even if I don't like the color/print selections I've made, then I know not to continue on. Saves me oodles of time, fabric & money.

I seem to intuitively know to start out w/ a small sample block. I am always amazed to hear folks say it's never occurred to them to do this. (I always feel sorry for folks who start out w/ large quilts & then for whatever reason, they lose steam or interest or whatever in the projects & never finish them.)

It's only since I started taking quilt classes at my LQS in Fall '05, that I've stopped making sample blocks, haven't needed to. Am largely working on class projects or resultant work inspired by classes.

Jean I can't use the excuse of no design board because I do have a small one as you can see in the pic.Right now I am agonizing over the sashing color for the dresden plate quilt in the pic.I started with a pretty flowery peach fabric that I just loved but it was too much peach color and over powered the dresden plates,I now have a dark green sashing on three of the plates but I'm not sure about it either.I am definitly color challenged. Oh for some lessons on working with colors!How about it ,you artistic people out there?

OH MY GOSH, I love your dresden plate blocks. I think a soft green would be better than the dark color you have up there now for the sashing. Take a couple of blocks to the fabric store and try them out with different fabrics.

In answer to the original question, yes I usually make a sample block out of scraps, but mainly to see if it's a block that's doable for my skill level. I usually try out the colors on EQ5.

Ginny Breyer has an excellent book on how to pick your colors - I purchased it at JoAnn's with a coupon - think I paid about $10.00 for it.

Fran, Thank you.I had thought about a light green also.I'm going to take your advice and go to Joanns and take one of the blocks with me. Also going to look for the book by Ginny Breyers.Just happen to have a 50% off coupon!!Thank you both.
Yvonne

I love your dresden plates and your design wall...I like the green shashing but try Fran's suggestion, I bet it will look good....yes, can we have a class on choosing color and using values in our quilts. Hope you can show us what you decide to use.
Jean

I started a BOM at the LQS and because I was unsure of my ability to read the pattern and cut correctly, I made a sample block for the 1st 5 blocks. Four of them plus other patterns I got from Quilts Galore came together as a 12 block throw for my GS. The last one I just used scraps and then made a little wall hanging out of it.
I guess I'm getting braver, this month I made my block with the alloted fabric and it came out fine. Whee!
I like Vicky's idea of making a sampler quilt. I like those anyway.

Sally

Yvonne

I have never made a sample block, but should have. I would have realized how time consuming the quilt I am working on would have been. A lot of little pieces, but I will soldier on.
Liz

I used to make a sample block to see if I liked it well enough to make a big quilt with that pattern.That turned into using a sample block as a pattern.....I pin it in front of my machine. It helps to keep all the blocks sewn right,instead of making a dozen wrong before I catch my mistake.Pat

What's a sample block? LOL

Suellen

I do make sample blocks. I figure, I'm new at this and still not very good . . . I like to make sure that I can make the block, that I like the colours and that I (hopefully) make most of my mistakes in the sample so that I don't mess up the blocks that I actually want to use :) I can imagine that as I get better and more experienced, I may not need the sample block anymore, especially for designs that I have made before...

I do hand applique blocks (VERY time consuming), and sometimes design my own. The first thing I (usually) do is a quick fabric mockup on a photocopy of the pattern, just gluesticking rough cut scraps. Then I put it somewhere I can view it from a distance to see if the colors contrast enough, and I can change anything easily. To audition backgrounds, I cut away the white areas of the mockup.
Another idea is to take digital photos of blocks and play with them on the computer (with whatever software you want), or print them out in color and play with different design ideas, or cut them up to design layouts, borders, etc. Printing or viewing the photos in black-and-white lets you see value differences.
I just finished reading "Color Confidence" by Jinny Beyer and it is very helpful for choosing colors! I would love to take this class at her shop (Northern VA) someday.
Bluebars

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.jinnybeyer.com/

I think the soft green for the sashing is a good idea - I'd even try a plaid or a stripe with the soft green and some peach - of course my problem is I decide what would look good, then try to find it in the stores! Good idea to take the block in and put it next to the fabrics - something may just jump out at you. I don't make sample blocks, but I do go ahead and make one block from the fabrics I've chosen, and pin it up as sort of a guide as I piece the others - like patce does.

Yup, even when I don't intend to. It just seems the first one never comes out right. And sometimes many of the others don't either, so I call them my sample blocks and use them for things like tote bags, hot pads, pot holders ...

beverly

Thanks for all the helpful tips and suggestions!What a great bunch of quilters we have here!I'm grateful for all the help.Will post pictures when I get the dresden plate done.
Yvonne

I almost always do. Then I hang it on the fridge and see if it keeps calling my name or if Im gonna be sorry I made a whole beds worth to look at.

I have made them, but more to make sure the sizes are right and I'm getting the proper end result before I cut up all my fabric! (How many times has a pattern -- or my interpretation of it -- been wrong? Too many!)

I tend to use EQ more for color placement. If I am buying fabric specifically for a project then the yardage matches the portion of the quilt that it's intended for and I probably don't want to make one block and then decide to swap colors around. (But I would if I made it and hated them.(

You could sacrifice some of the material cut out the pieces and glue stick them to a paper that way it would be full size and still manageable if you wanted to change the colors.