One of Sylvia Schaefer’s favorite ways of designing modern quilts is by starting with a traditional quilt block and adapting it to incorporate negative space. Doing so always feels like a nice way of connecting the threads between quiltmakers of the past and the modern quilting movement to her. This pattern is based on a traditional block called “Children of Israel.” Modifying the block and then extending the lines that reach to the edge creates an interesting woven design with a sort of buckle that holds the ribbons of color together when only a few blocks are set in an asymmetric arrangement.
Sylvia Schaefer earned a PhD in marine science before moving into quilting full-time, and her background in science often inspires her quilt designs, both directly and indirectly. Her quilts and patterns have been published in magazines both online and in print. Her work has been exhibited and won awards regionally and nationally, including ribbons at Pacific International Quilt Festival, the American Quilter’s Society show in Paducah, and MQX, among others. In 2017, she was awarded the second annual Craftsy Quilt Designer Fellowship, allowing her to start her own line of printed patterns sold in quilt shops around the world under the name Flying Parrot Quilts (a play on her favorite pets and Flying Geese blocks). She has also appeared on camera in Fresh Quilting and Patchwork Nation. Her book, The Quilter’s Negative Space Handbook, is a guide to designing modern quilts from traditional blocks.
Follow her work at www.flyingparrotquilts.com, or on Instagram or Facebook as @flyingparrotquilts.
Photos by Laura Loewen
This pattern is available only to members of The Modern Quilt Guild. Not a member? Learn more about joining here.