Downton Geeks Unite! (A Modern Block Challenge)

If you have seen the latest issue of Gen Q, you know that we have come out of the closet… We are total Downton Abbey GEEKS. Just can’t get enough!

So at Quilt Market last Spring in Portland, when we learned Andover Fabrics was introducing a line of Downton-inspired fabrics designed in collaboration with the show’s costume designers and Andover designer Kathy Hall (some prints shown above), we knew we had to come up with a fun way to share our DA passion with our dear Q-bies.

After some thought, we decided this line—based on fabric motifs from about 100 years ago—would be the perfect fabric for a challenge! So we’re inviting you to make a modern quilt block using this decidedly vintage fabric. And we’ve rounded up some killer prizes, too.

Excited? Read on!

The Rules

Our Downton Abbey Modern Block Challenge starts right now and ends Jan. 5, 2014 at 11 p.m. PST. If you have our November-December issue, you can find the full scoop beginning on page 28. If you don’t have that issue, here are the highlights (and follow this link for all the info needed):

• Use at least two fabrics from the Downton Abbey collections by Andover, to create an original 12 1/2” unfinished quilt block (if it were sewn into a quilt, it would be 12” finished) in a modern style. (We’re leaving the interpretation of modern completely up to you!) Any and all techniques are welcome: applique, paper piecing, patchwork, embroidery or anything else.
• Add as many fabrics to the block as you like, in addition to your two Downton Abbey choices. They don’t have to be Andover fabrics, and if you can identify them, we’d like to know what you used. But it’s not mandatory.
• Send a high-resolution digital image of your block by email to Tracy@GenerationQMagazine.com.
• Your block image MUST be accompanied by the following information:

1. Your full name
2. Mailing address
3. Phone numbers (home and cell)
4. Email address
5. Blog or website (if you have one)
6. Other fabrics were used in the block (if known)?
7. Your inspiration for your design

• Grab our Downton Abbey Modern Block Challenge button (shown below) and let the q-inverse know you’re playing along with us!
• Have questions? Contact Jake at jake@generationqmagazine.com.

Blocks will be judged by a panel of industry pros. We’ll consider originality, use of color, construction (from the front, obviously!) and how well the theme or inspiration is reflected.

Come clean on your DA fetish! If you're going to play along with our Modern Block Challenge, grab the button for your blog.

There’s a lot more info on this challenge to be found at this link. We just didn’t want to overwhelm this post. Please take a moment and read through the rules and see the prizes, AKA bribes, we’ve got for you, along with a way to help DA give back to the community.

but wait, there’s more!

BTW, we’re not in this alone! Our Q-bie bud Ebony Love of Love Bug Studios is also mixing it up, DA-style, with her Downton Abbey Mystery Quilt Along. She’s created some gorgeous top-secret blocks, which will become a gorgeous top-secret quilt.  Each week between now and Jan. 5—the start of Season 4 in the U.S.—she’ll reveal another block for the quilt on her website, www.lovebugstudios.com.

We love what Ebony’s doing just as much as we love putting a modern spin on these prints inspired by another age, so we’re teaming up to cross-promote both efforts. Go register on her website and find all of the deets there, and play along with both efforts!

let’s get this party started!

GenQ ad guru Michelle Freedman’s original DA design, Highclere Cross Block, is a great example of how versatile these historic-infused prints can be. Here’s what she had to say about her block:

Michelle Freedman

“My Downton Abbey Modern Block Challenge submission is called the Highclere Cross Block. I was inspired to create a visual symbol, like a crest, for the Crawley family. The intersection of the four crosses creates an eight-pointed star made from of two squares. To me this symbolizes the connection between the socialites and the servants: how their lives  overlap and become intertwined despite what society dictates.
“For this block I used the Edith and Sybil fabrics. I can also see this block being made in reverse, with a dark color in the ground so the star stands out and the crosses recede. The name of the block was inspired by name of the castle in Yorkshire, England where Downton Abbey is filmed.”

Michelle's Highclere Castle Modern Block

highclere cross block

by michelle freedman

finished size: 12” X 12”

materials needed:

• (1) 2 1/2” x 18” strip of (4) different fabrics
•  1/4 yard of background fabric

cutting instructions:

• From each 2 1/2” strip, cut (2) 2 1/2” squares and (1) 2 1/2” X 6 1/2” rectangle, leaving you with (8) colored squares (2 of each) and (4) rectangles.
• From the background fabric, cut (2) 2 1/2” X WOF strips.
  • Then cut (16) 2 1/2” squares.
  • From the background fabric again cut (2) 1 1/2” X WOF strips.
    • Then cut (32) 1 1/2” squares.

piecing instructions:

Section detail

1. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the (32) 1 1/2” squares from corner to corner.
2. You’re making the squared points of each cross. For each point, place a 1 1/2” square on the top right corner of a 2 1/2” colored square, right sides together, and sew along the line. (The stitching line should be placed from the top to the right side of the colored square.) Press seam to the corner and trim excess fabric from 1 1/2” square. Then place a 1 1/2” square on the top left corner of the 2 1/2” colored square, RST, and sew along the line. (The stitching line should be placed from the top to the left side of the colored square.) Press seam to the corner and trim excess fabric for 1 1/2” square.
3. Repeat for remaining (7) squares.
4. To make the rectangle points, place a 1 1/2” square on each corner, RST, and sew along the line. (The stitching lines should again be from the top to the side of each rectangle corner.) Press each seam to its corner and trim excess fabric from 1 1/2” square.
5. Repeat for remaining (3) rectangles.
6. The block is made from (4) identical sections. Each section is a different color. Sew each section first by row.
7. Row 1 is 2 1/2” background square, pointed square, 2 1/2” background square.
8. Row 2 is rectangle unit.
9. Row 3 is 2 1/2” background square, pointed square, 2 1/2” background square.
10. Press seams in opposing directions for each row, then sew rows together. Repeat for (3) other colors.
11. Last, sew sections together like a Four-Patch, making sure the rectangles are turned in the same direction for each section.

Now it’s your turn! In the coming weeks, we’ll share more blocks by our staff and some uber-talented designer friends. Start sketching. Between our Modern Block Challenge and Ebony Love’s Mystery Quilt Along, there’ll be plenty of Downton juice to keep us entertained until Season 4 starts.

“Downton^TM and Downton Abbey^®© 2013 Carnival Film & Television Ltd. All Rights Reserved Under License To Andover Fabrics.”