Make Any Block, Any Size by Joen Wolfrom is a book from the Boulder MQG guild library. Claudia Sheehan wrote a review of the book as part of our “From the Library” book reviews. Modern Blocks and many other great books are available for members to check out. You can request a book online using the form on the right side of this page, or you can check one out at most evening meetings or open sews. If the library will not be at that meeting but you have requested a book online, we will try to arrange to get the book to you.

What made you purchase this book/what were you most interested in?

This book is in the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild library, and I think is a very good general resource book, though it does not pertain specifically to modern quilting.

What did you learn from the book that you didn’t know before?

There are many explanations on the Internet on resizing quilt blocks based on the number of “patches” within the block. I have always found these tutorials rather confusing until I read this book. Essentially, a block, based for example on a nine patch, is really drafted on a 3 by 3 grid. But as the grids contain more squares the vernacular becomes confusing. A five-patch block is really a grid composed of 25 squares (5 rows and 5 columns of squares). The author shows how to draft grids of any size with pencil and paper. She gives examples of traditional blocks as well as her own block patterns that can be designed from grids. She shows how this technique can be used to draft blocks that are not square in shape.

Is this book more project based or technique based?

This book is technique based for drafting. It is not heavy on quilting math, which will make it very user friendly for the mathphobe.

What really stood out to you about this book?

If you study the drafting method of the book, the quilter will be able to resize any block design from a pattern without any problems. Say if one has a quilt pattern for blocks of twelve inch finished size, but one wants to make the blocks smaller to a seven inch size, this book will make it very easy to redraft the pattern, and also have it result in a very precisely. Personally for me, this book gave me a strategy and a simple way to design my own quilt blocks using Adobe illustrator. As I was playing with this method, I realized that there is a grid-drafting tool within the program. I have had a very enjoyable time coming up with interesting a wild block designs.

Did you make any projects from it? If so, were the instructions clear and easy to follow?

This is not a project book with patterns and sewing instructions. As I mentioned, this book gave me a strategy to design and draft block designs in Adobe Illustrator. I have included some examples of the author’s designs star block designs, and my own crazy block. All the designs are based on a “7 patch grid”.

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Why would you recommend this book?

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to draft his or her own block patterns. The down side of this book is that the block illustrations could be more clearly colored. The examples are not printed in solid colors, but have an ombré shading which makes it difficult to copy the more complex designs. Also the blocks are superimposed on small grid lines, which again makes trying to copy a block difficult.