Color Options from American Patchwork & Quilting February 2012

Designer: Kimberly Walus

Just like the ride at an amusement park, these playful blocks seem to spin around and around. A medley of colorful prints-both 1930s reproductions and modern brights-creates a scrappy look that's fun for all.

Buy this quilt pattern here.

Nautical Pinwheels Quilt

Novelty prints take Merry-Go-Round from the amusement park to the beach. Quilt tester Laura Boehnke made pinwheels pop by using the same navy blue print and crisp white for the large triangle-squares in her four-block quilt. She fussy-cut bottle cap designs for the 2-1/2" sashing squares. If you're having difficulty coordinating fabrics, start with a multicolor print, such as the faux pieced plaid Laura used for the outer border, and use it to help select prints. Fabrics are from the Going Coastal collection by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller Fabrics.

Go to the free quilt pattern.

Designer: Jinny Beyer

Take baby steps on your path to learning hand piecing with a crib quilt composed nearly entirely of diamonds. Careful color placement creates the illusion of cubes.

Instead of a secondary cubic design, interlocking hexagons emerge in quilt tester Laura Boehnke's smaller version. To get the look, cut diamonds from striped fabric and assemble them in groups of three within the larger hexagon units. Orange diamonds provide a punch of color when interspersed among low-contrast prints. Fabrics are from the Bohemian collection by Annette Tatum for FreeSpirit.

Quilt Collector: Julie Hendricksen

Make a splash with red and white by re-creating this stunning antique Lone Star quilt. The corner Blazing Star blocks seem to float on a sea of white.

Blazing Stars Wall Quilt

Quilt tester Laura Boehnke combined four Blazing Star blocks for a striking wall hanging. Instead of creating a floating look with white, she defined each block with a contrasting border. By using prints with metallic stripes, the star points seem to radiate light. Fabrics are from the Maestro collection by Kathy Hall and the Big Beautiful Bus collection by Lonni Rossi, both from Andover Fabrics.

Go to the free wall quilt pattern.

Designer: Laurie Simpson of Minick and Simpson

If the appliquéd medallion is the star of this red-and-white wall hanging, the pieced borders are the supporting players. Create your own show-stealing version with fusible machine appliqué.

Botanical Batiks Wall Quilt

The botanical-style appliqué and pieced borders of Center Stage get Hawaiian flair when made in a palette of jewel-tone batiks. By using lights and darks in similar colorways for the Flying Geese units and hourglass blocks, quilt tester Laura Boehnke gives the borders added dimension and equal play. Fabrics are from the Bali Handpaints collection from Hoffman California Fabrics.

Go to the free wall quilt pattern.

Designer: Marcie Patch of Patchalot Patterns

No two star blocks are alike when you raid your stash for an array of Civil War reproduction prints to piece a scrappy bed-size quilt.

Simple Stars Baby Quilt

For a quick-to-make baby quilt, make eight star blocks as quilt tester Laura Boehnke did, setting them off with a novelty print in the vertical sashing. Laura replaced the top and bottom triangle-square borders with fussy-cut strips from a border print (where the border design is printed parallel to the selvages) to enhance the train theme. Fabrics are from Richard Neuman's Choo Choo You collection and Kinkame's Toy Poodle collection, both from Clothworks.

Go to the free baby quilt pattern.

Designers: Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle of FunQuilts/Modern Quilt Studio

Why limit your fabric choices? Combine styles-traditional, floral, modern, or even hand-dyed-based on color, scale, and intensity, and unite them with skinny sashing.

Buy this quilt pattern here.

Flannel Rectangles Wall Quilt

Quilt tester Laura Boehnke experimented with flannels in shades of brown and green to give her version a cozy camouflage look. New to sewing with flannel? Take our advice: Prewash flannels because they tend to shrink. Since flannel is a medium-weight fabric, use a larger needle, such as 90/14. Flannel also has a tendency to stretch, so pin more than you normally would or stitch with a walking foot. Fabrics are from the Tailor Made collection from Timeless Treasures Fabrics.

Go to the free wall quilt pattern.

Designer: Corey Yoder of Little Miss Shabby

What a treat! Piecing, easy fusible appliqué, and big-stitch quilting are the ingredients in this delightful throw containing two complementary blocks.

Petal Appliqués Wall Quilt

Petal appliqués machine-zigzag-stitched with dark turquoise thread climb a trellis made of gray and brown prints in quilt tester Laura Boehnke's version of Butterscotch Squares. By using prints instead of the butterscotch solid for block backgrounds, Laura gave each block subtle depth. She used her design wall to ensure the triangles in each A block match the triangles in adjacent B blocks. Fabrics include the Revive collection and other coordinating prints from Art Gallery Fabrics.

Go to the free wall quilt pattern.