Shards FPP quilt block

Shards is a new FPP quilt block that looks like pieces of coloured glass layered over each other, perfect for playing with transparency.

The pattern is fairly easy to make and suitable for an adventurous beginner who is familiar with the technique. There are a few angles to piece, and if you find those tricky, here's a quick video tutorial on how to line up your fabrics for sewing so they end up in the right spot.

The Shards pattern makes a 12" x 12" (finished) block, with two background options:

plain background
corner "wings" to add some extra fun and secondary patterns when multiple blocks are used.

Choosing fabrics for the Shards quilt block

I love playing with rainbow gradients, and when I had the idea for the block, I always knew it was going to be a rainbow quilt block. Its working title even had the word rainbow in it.

With all the triangles overlapping in the center, adding some transparency was a fun touch. It's similar to the Rainbow Star block in that respect, but I played it up more here than I did with my fabric choices for the star.

Using solids was an obvious choice, as that gave me more options for the transparency, but this could easily be done in tone-on-tone prints as well for a similar look.

I have a tendency to use white backgrounds in most of my quilts and blocks, so I made sure to mock this one up with a dark background as well, because I figured that would make the rainbow pop even more. And for good measure, I used tone-on-tone print for this scrappy mockup.

But of course there is not reason to stick to the rainbow - an ombre gradient is also a fun option. In this mockup, I went clockwise from dark to light in the outer parts of the shards, and then anti-clockwise with the same colours in the center. I think it makes for a fun look that way, and even keeps a little of the transparency effect.

Or what about a fun scrappy look? If you scroll down a little further, you'll see this one mocked up as a perfect little baby boy quilt.

How to use the Shards quilt block

The Shards quilt block can be used on its own, or in multiples to make table runners or larger quilts. You can even set the blocks straight, or on point for a different look.

With the extra option of adding corner "wings" to the blocks, you can also change up the look when using multiple blocks in a quilt.

Here's the original block with the plain background, in a straight setting...

... and set on point. Both of these quilts are the perfect baby quilt size, at about 36" square (the on-point setting is an inch or so smaller).

With the corner wings, they look like this:

And here's the mockups in the pink ombre and grey and baby blue blocks I showed you above. Aren't they sweet?

Especially this grey and blue quilt would be the perfect boy baby quilt. I'm picturing this with some grey and black linen for the shards, a fun pop of bright blue, and maybe another soft linen for the background.

Foundation paper piecing

The Shards quilt block is a foundation paper pieced pattern that's suitable for adventurous beginners. The pattern contains the templates, and instructions for how to put them together, but it doesn't explain the technique. So if you're new to foundation paper piecing and want to give it a go, I wrote an FPP tutorial to help you get started with this fun technique. It's a full photo tutorial and comes with a free, simple pine tree block to make.

If you've done FPP in the past but maybe just need to gain a little more quilty confidence, here are a few more patterns from the shop that make perfect starter blocks to warm up with before diving into some of the more complicated blocks. Check out the Twisted Log Cabin, Popsicle, and Ice Cream Bar blocks to dip your toes in, or the Festive Forest table runner.

Resizing FPP quilt blocks

The pattern includes full size templates for a 12" x 12" quilt block. If you need smaller or larger Mushrooms for your project, you're in luck because it's super easy to resize a paper pieced quilt block. Just pop over to this blog post where I teach you how to easily change the size of an FPP quilt block on your own printer or on a photocopier.

Where to get the pattern

Shards is now available in the pattern shop right here.