Cob Web Blocks / Spider Web Quilt

The first 10 blocks of The Spider Web / Cob Web Quilt.

You can start to see the spider webs forming ...  The are not the final placements, but it does give an idea of how it will look.

This was one of the projects I worked on at the mini-Quilt Retreat hosted by my friend Shari C, who has a gift for hospitality (Seriously: That is her super power!).  I brought my old Featherweight, but could not get it working (???), so Shari let me use her mom's old Viking, which ran like a champ!  I hope that helped Shari feel like her mom was there sewing with us, too.

The Cob Web / Spider Web is one of the classic quilt patterns on my lifetime bucket list.  In researching it, there are many ways to make Cob Web blocks.  Here are a few methods:        

 

Jenny Doan demos a method with triangle paper piecing, a kite-shaped template, and a charm pack for a scrappy look.    I did order the foundation papers, along with the template -- I know I could have made my own, but we are minus a printer at present, and I did not want to trace them all by hand.

 

Here is a single block as shown in the Jenny Doan video.  This is the method I'm using with their foundation papers and the template for the black star center. 

I also ordered a pound of assorted fabric strips on Esty (Yeah -- someone else's scraps!) rather than a charm pack.  So far, I am happier using my own scraps as opposed to someone else's.  Each bit of color brings back a feeling and a memory, whereas the stranger scraps don't serve up that rich past for me.  Although, eventually new scraps will become familiar ...  Once they are all mixed in, they are fine.  That's the beauty of a scrap quilt: As long as things are evenly distributed, you can put just about any scrap anywhere and it will look good!

I think this will be my new warm-up exercise in the sewing room, pulling bits of color out of the scrap pile, creating order from chaos.  Eventually, I will have enough for a big quilt!

 

Jordan Fabrics explains the Carosel Pattern which is a sightly different way to do it by making strip sets, and then cutting them with 45-degree triangle ruler.  She doesn't worry about color placement, though you can orchestrate that too.     I did try this method, but was not happy with the outcome -- maybe I didn't like the colors in the jelly roll set?  I finished the cobe webs, but have not felt compelled to finish the quilt. 

Fons and Porter have a Sew Easy Handout that explains it using a Kaliedescope Ruler, too.  This is more of what I had in mind in thinking about this project from one of my favorite quilting books:

 I have an old quilting book that I love, showing how to make many classic quilting patterns / blocks.

 It explains how to make a cobweb / spider web quilt by making strip sets.  I have a jelly roll that I wanted to use ...