Block 6 Richmond

I was so happy today to discover this week's block for Barbara Brackman's Civil War BOM is the Richmond block.  This is the block I call my "Grandma Block" and I've made several quilts using it with changes in the value placement.  The block is also known as "Aunt Vina's Favorite", "Pinwheel" , "Butterfly" and several others.

If you've read my blog very long, you've probably seen these quilts a time or two.  But

I think it's really interesting to study how different a block can look with value changes.

So this is my block for the Civil War Quilt

Block Base reverses the lights and darks in the four corners and that's also what my Grandmother did. This is the quilt she made in 1981 for my oldest son

And a close up of some of the blocks

And the first quilt I made using the block

"Remembering Grandma" 2006

And a close up of the block

The second quilt I made as wedding gift for my youngest son in 2008.  I replaced the four patchs with single squares, changed value placement a bit and called it "Hidden Stars".  Do you see them?

 Close up of those blocks

Then I added sashing to create stars between the blocks and created "Grandma's Garden" which I finished in 2010.

Close up of those blocks

Lastly I've pieced a dark version that isn't finished.  I plan to add applique to the outer borders.

I hope you find it as interesting as I do to see how this block can be changed.