Secondary Design & How to Create It – Part Two

Last week’s blog covered secondary design that can be created within quilt blocks and with one block quilts. This week, I will cover three other interesting ways to create secondary design: two block quilts, with sashing and also with background fabric. You can use one of these options or combine them to create a unique secondary design. Let’s get started!

Secondary Design – Two Block Option

One of the easiest ways (I think) to create secondary design is with two different blocks alternated in a quilt top. The key to get a new design to emerge is to chose one block with a distinct directional pattern that, when pieced into a quilt top, will cause the viewer’s eye to see the secondary design. Sometimes they create the design when joined in straight rows and sometimes they look better when they are joined into rows with the blocks on point. Here’s some examples.

First up, Strips & Stars has the blocks pieced together in straight rows to create the secondary design. Here are the blocks:

The star block with the checkerboards has movement in all directions that the log cabin block does not. Look what happens when you put them together though:

Notice that the star blocks with the most movement create a secondary “crisscross” design across the quilt. But in addition, the log cabin blocks create another design: 3 diagonal stripes.

Here’s an example of a two block, secondary design with blocks set on-point in my quilt, Country Dance:

Here’s the blocks that make up this quilt:

Putting these two blocks together in an on-point setting gives you an interesting grid design instead of a design that crisscrosses across the quilt top.

My final example of secondary design with two blocks is combining a pieced block and an appliqué block with an element of each of the block styles that creates the design. Here are the two blocks:

Here’s the quilt, High Prairie Blooms:

Notice how there are two elements that make a secondary design here. One is the obvious crisscross pattern that develops from the appliqué blocks. But also there is a design that emerges where two appliqué and two pieced blocks meet (circled area in photo below).

Secondary Design – Sashing

Creating secondary design with sashing can happen in two ways, within the sashing itself and with the sashing pieces creating a design when next to the blocks. The first option is shown in Posey Patch:

By using a cornerstone and stitch & flip corners on the sashing strips, a star is created between the blocks of the quilt.

The second option is where the sashing interacts with an element of the quilt blocks that make up the quilt.  In my quilt, Open Windows, there is a stitch and flip corner on two sides of the blocks, that work to create a monkey wrench design when the blocks and sashing, with cornerstones, are joined.

Secondary Design – Background Blocks

This has similarities to the two block secondary design in a way. You can create a secondary design that is probably the easiest with your quilt’s background blocks. I consider blocks to be background blocks if they are very simple and are used more as a background rather than the focus of the quilt. The most common one I use is the half-square triangle (HST) square/block.

In the three photos below, I have created a diagonal “stripe” by using two different colors in the pieced half-square triangle square blocks that are used for the simple background blocks.

On these last two quilts, I used the technique from above on larger sized lap quilts. The background stripes are more subtle here because I chose two fabrics very close in shade Like Liberty Star Shine on the left. You can also make the stripe more prominent by using fabrics with shades not as close, like in Butterfly Garden on the right.

So that’s all for my two week tutorial on secondary design. Now you can have fun when creating your own quilts. Leave a comment or ask a question below and I will enter you into a drawing for my Star Wheels quilt pattern.

The drawing will be on Monday, February 3rd. **We have a winner! Congrats, Dolores Elaine Meendering!***

Happy Quilting!
Deanne