The Third Block Contest 2020

Back in January and February when most of our lives seemed normal, Alewives Fabrics hosted their annual Third Block contest. Last year was the first I heard of it and this year I kept an eye on their Instagram feed because I did not want to miss it! :)

Alewives kits up four fabrics that you can purchase. Then you make patchwork of the crosses blocks from them and post them on Instagram. Then they pick some winners and give them gift certificates. Sounds like fun, right!

Here are the two examples that Alewives posted to get the juices flowing:

And here's the fabric that was in the kit:

(You can see I borrowed this picture from aimeesews because I was not smart (or patient) enough to take a picture when I got the fabrics.)

I'll start with my entries. I was sure I could get four because I did that pretty easily last year and that's pretty standard from four fat quarters, but I even got a fifth this year! Yay, me!

I knew as soon as I saw the pink on the peacocks that I would want to use that "line" to form some shape. I was so pleased with how this turned out. I got the idea for the center from seeing other blocks that were posted. I was tempted not to look at any until I was done so I could say everything was original but then decided to get over myself. I really like the snowflake that takes shape in the middle.

So much so that I used it in my second block too!

 My third block:

 fourth:

 and fifth:

It was pretty slim pickings by the last block, but I liked the squarish shape created by the black lines (with white dots) around the outside.

Here is what was left of the fabric.

The contest started on January 8 and I bought my kit the same day. You had until February 29 to finish and post your blocks. I posted my last one on January 29. And then waited and waited for the announcement of the winners! But in the meantime, I enjoyed many wonderful blocks. If you want to see a full selection click #thethirdblock. (It will show posts from every year, not just 2020.)

Here a small selection of blocks. I can't even say "my favourites" because there were so many I liked and can't post them all here! I'll start with a collage from Alewives so you can see a bunch:

Here's another collage of the blocks done by stitchified:

And some assorted blocks:

 From top left, clockwise the blocks above were designed by: makkaroni_art, mgstanton, rosemary.lynch.96, and greta_evans4119.

Again from top left, clockwise: cottagethreads, makkaroni_art, greta_evans4119, and thefiberchick. Check out that stripe work!

All of those blocks were made from the same four fabrics (though not all of the blocks used all four). Isn't that crazy!!

The contest ended on February 29 and the winner would be announced on March 4. I noticed they left themselves some time to decide this year. Last year the said they would announce the same day but then had to post a delay notice because they couldn't decide!

The large block in the top right was the big winner ($100) and the rest were runner ups ($50). Yes, that is my first block in the lower left corner. Yay, me! I still haven't used my gift certificate but I do enjoy thinking about what I'll do with it.

I don't have room for any more blocks in my full sized quilt so I will be doing something else with my five blocks. Maybe a wall hanging with four of them. Maybe a table runner with all five. I have the scraps of leftover fabric set aside in case I want to use them in the borders. But it will have to wait because I can't stop working on my blocks for the Lucy Boston quilt right now!