I was practicing dot-to-dot free motion quilting when this block came up in the rotation, so I used that technique to quilt it. For the dark red triangles, I drew a line with a chalk pencil from each corner of the block to the middle of the base of each triangle, then marked 2 points along that line. I started in one corner of the first triangle and quilted along the edge of the block to the opposite corner of the same triangle. Then I quilted from that corner to the first dot, and from there back to the first corner where I started. From there I went to the second dot, then to the opposite corner; and finally, back along the base of the triangle to the corner where I’d originally started. I traveled along the edge of the block to the next triangle and did the same thing. That gave me the chevron pattern in each of the red triangles and outlined the whole block at the same time.

I quilted the inside patches in two rounds: one with gold thread and one with green thread. Each time I started in the very center of the block, quilted along one of the straight sides of the shape, quilted continuous curve designs to the other straight side, and then back to the center. I crossed the center to the other shape of the same color and did the same thing there.

I’m happy with the way this one turned out. The straight outer quilting frames the inner shape nicely, and the curved quilting opens the center of the block outward.

Friends Around the Square is block 8 of the first Splendid Sampler and was designed by Julie Karaseck of Patched Works.