Granny Squares?

 

I saw this great idea for making a crocheted granny square for each book that one reads during the year based on the colors in each book cover. This would take a whole lot more colors of yarn than I will ever have on hand (and I'm Not Buying Yarn) and a whole lot more crocheting skill than I currently have. But the idea of it got me thinking, wouldn't it be fun to do a quilt block for each book you read per year?  There's got to be a whole lot of crossover between quilters and readers, right? Or maybe it's just the quilters that I happen to know? Anyways—I am a quilter who really likes reading, so I'm going to work on this project and see if I can get it going for this year. I've already read 12 books so I'm already behind.

This got me thinking, are there any quilt blocks that look like granny squares? I found this one, and this free one. but they don't really come off visually as a granny square to me. They're lacking the laciness of the patterns I think, too block-y (hah!).  This one is much more of a crocheted look, but doesn't appeal to me at all as a block making experience. And certainly not for the number of blocks I'd be making.

This sort of variation of color placements and arrangements from block to block works a bit better when you have them all together in a quilt. After checking out that one version of a quilt block based on granny squares, I realized I had just one version of granny squares stuck in my mind. That meant looking into what exactly are crocheted granny squares? Turns out that they are not just several rounds of color around a central square, there are a whole lot of variations out there. (hey just like quilt blocks!) Interpreting that wide variation in quilt blocks would make for an even more interesting quilt imo.

I got a digital magazine out of the library and started sketching on my iPad inspired by the pictures. I didn't spend time trying to interpret the look of the crocheted squares into quilt blocks that would be able to be pieced (piece-able?). Just getting the idea of the blocks down. I think it could work as an overall project if you used the same fabric as the negative space or openings in the crochet.

Then I went into EQ8 to see if there were any blocks available that would substitute. As you can see I got just a little carried away with my choices. I was going for variety here. Most of these blocks are way beyond my piecing capabilities, this is just for fun. The one block at the bottom that I repeated and filled in with seemed like a really good crochet looking block, when several were put together. I think a combination of circular, diamond, and square/mosaic types of blocks could work out really well to get that Granny Square Sampler look. Or I could just do a bullseye block, and vary the number, size, and shape of the rounds. hmmmm so many options—more thinking on this is required.