I had to make this quilt for my SIL’s boyfriend.  He chose two colors for the quilt.  That’s it.  TWO colors.  UGH  I’m just not a two-color quilter, that’s for sure.  😉

But, this post isn’t about his color choices (or lack thereof) – it’s about variation on a theme.  I wanted to do SIMPLE (he’s a MAN, afterall), yet needed to try to create depth and some design fun. 

And then I ran out of fabric – which is totally amazing in and of itself!  And I live 45 min. away from the nearest quilt shop.  <thud>

So, I did what any quilter would do in the face of adversity – I punted!

Five of the blocks are simply pieced nine-patch blocks, with a border around the nine-patch. 

The center block is a 25-square pieced block.

Four of the blocks are raw-edge applique, on top of the background fabric – giving the illusion that I’ve pieced them!

Once my quilter is finished with her part, the appliqued fabrics will be stabilized and no one will know that I ran out of fabric and took a short-cut to get this quilt pieced!  Plus, I like the final results, a variation of pieced and raw-edge applique – gives a MAN quilt much more funshine than just pieced blocks.

Try it – and have FUN in designing or making a quilt that isn’t the norm!