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!

Lucy Boston Challenge "The Third Block"

Get ready for lots and lots of pretty pictures!

Not long ago, I noticed that Alewives Fabrics was going to have a Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses challenge.

Their Instagram feed caught my attention because each Sunday they sell kits of four fat quarters and show two examples of blocks you can make with them.

They ran the same challenge last year and I checked out the entries. The blocks looked great, and it seemed like it would be a lot of fun.


Here are the two sample blocks they teased us with for this challenge:

When the challenge started, they revealed the four fat quarters that made up the kit:

I ordered it as soon as it was for sale! For the challenge, you had to use only these fabrics in your block. (You didn't have to use all four, but you couldn't add additional fabric.) You could make as many as you wanted (or could) with that fabric.

Once I got the fabrics, I didn't want to cut into them before planning a way to maximize my fabrics so I scanned the fabrics with a honeycomb paper for size and scale.

I just scanned the portion of the fat quarters that fit on my printer/scanner, not the whole fat quarter, but it was enough to work with.

Here are some of the blocks that I designed with these scans in Photoshop:

Virtual Block 1

Virtual Block 2

Virtual Block 3

Virtual Block 4

Virtual Block 5

Virtual Block 6

Not surprisingly, I was completely obsessed with trying out the different options and variations. (Some of the examples above have versions A, B, and C!) Once I had the shape isolated from a fabric, I could rotate, mirror image and move it wherever and however I wanted.

When it got down to cutting actual fabric, these are the blocks that I managed to get out of the fat quarters:

"Real" block 1

"Real" block 2

"Real" block 3

"Real" block 4

Fortunately sewing the blocks together wasn't required to enter them in the challenge and that helped getting them all done before the deadline. :)

I loved following the hashtag #TheThirdBlock for the challenge and seeing everyone else's entries. I may have missed a couple, but I believe I captured a picture of all of them and here they are. As you look at them, see if you can pick out what fabric the various pieces come from.

(Note: If I posted your blocks and you would like to have them removed, please just email me at the address on the above right and I will do so right away.)

Two from @armdilly_o:

From @caffeinatedcotton:

Three from @colmurph2000:

Four blocks from @cottagethreads:

One from @ctmainiac22:

Here are five blocks from @e.e.botke:

And a whooping six blocks from @greta_evans4119:

*

*

From @katspawsvt:

Two from @mgstanton:

*

*

And two from @promqun75:

Three from @ritasiav:

And, finally, four from @stitchified:

*

*

Did you pick out a favourite? The people at Alewives Fabrics had a hard time too, because the day they were supposed to announce the winners, we saw this:

!! What?!!

Of course we could wait, since we had to....

Finally, the winners were announced:

Yay! They couldn't pick one winner so they decided to award two people the grand prize. I was so excited.

There were also three runner up winners. They're the blocks between the * marks above.

Can you believe all the different looks you can get from the same choice of fabrics? Since they're not sewn, I may not sew the blocks exactly as they're pictured above. (I'll try something from my stash in some of my blocks.) But you can be sure that these blocks will be added to my other blocks -- I almost have enough for my quilt top now!