A Week Experimenting with Drunkard's Path

A Perfect World

The week of September 8-12, I am teaching a class at J. C. Campbell, titled Drunkard's Path and More. It's been quite a while since I've taught this class, so I've spent this week trying out all the design possibilities.

I had forgotten how exciting this technique can be. It seems that every where I turn I see new designs. I usually begin by placing the squares on the design wall, in no particular order. Always something strikes me, and my mind starts playing the "what if" game.

This week has been no exception. I haven't been able to concentrate on one particular design but have been hopping back and forth, just to see how many design I can create.

A Perfect World, is one of my older quilts, and may well be the first one I created using this technique. My class will begin by creating your own design using this method, and then we will go off on a, "what if" tangent.

Corner Pockets

Somewhere along the line I came across the pattern Fair Play and decided that it was a wonderful companion to Drunkard's Path. I began mixing the two together, and even more design possibilities appeared.

One think I haven't mentioned is that you begin with a host block. One that is pieced to a specific design, and use it to cut your Drunkard's Path or Fair Play template. This is where all the designs possibilities begin.




This technique is not something that I can explain in a blog post, it's not complicated, but it does take a while to get the momentum going. I've decided to post some of the 12 1/2" squares that I have designed. Some of these are created with just the Drunkard's Path some are using only the Fair Play while some are combined.

I began placing these black and white Drunkard's Path blocks on the design wall. A block in the lower left caught my attention and the "What if" began.

A Pinwheel pattern within a circle.

Squares on point in a circle

Large square within a circle.

A circle with cross bars.

A small square within a circle.

Pie shape within a circle.


















A few of the design I discovered when working with Fair Play,

circles with pinwheel on top.

Purple and green triangles dominate here.

This is all I had time to play with there are so many more designs waiting to happen.

As always, I am linked to www.ninamariesayre.blogspot.com