The traditional bow tie block has stood the test of time as one that is most popular for today’s quilters to update and easily replicate.
There are always many layouts that the quilter may choose for her particular quilt. With the Bow Tie, you may choose to have your individual blocks sewn together with no solid color blocks between (as shown above). Or you may opt to add a solid color block between each Bow Tie block (as shown below).
I absolutely love both takes on the same quilt block but I feel like the quilt with solid blocks separating the Bow Tie blocks allows the scrappy fabric to be showcased more. By putting all the blocks together like in the first picture, my eye doesn’t have a place to rest so I’m looking all over that quilt which gives my brain no peace! (I do like, however, how just turning your Bow Tie block a different way, you create a secondary block that looks almost circular! You can’t get that effect with the Bow Tie blocks separated.)
Pick your favorite, and get moving!
I could make myself crazy trying to decide which way to proceed. The only way for my personality to move is to simply MOVE! To that end, I’m gonna start cutting my fabrics. My finished Bow Tie blocks will be 6″ so the solid color needs to be cut at 6″ square. I think cream would be great but I might also try a pale, pale yellow to see how that looks. I’ve also picked my vintage fabrics to use: 30’s Playtime 2017 from Chloe’s Closet for Moda Fabrics and Lemonade Sundae from Leonie Bateman for Penny Rose Fabrics.
30’s Playtime 2017 
Lemonade Sundae
Always start by prepping your fabrics. Iron them nicely so your cuts are precise. My fabrics will be cut:
- Bow tie fabrics: two 3.5″ squares
- Background fabrics: two 3.5″ squares
- You have a choice here: cut four 1.5″ squares of a solid fabric OR cut two 1.5″ squares of the Bow Tie fabric. If you notice in the vintage quilts, they used a solid as their Bow Tie center. Modern patterns use the Bow Tie fabric as that center piece. Totally your call! It’s your quilt!
Time to get to work…
I’ll post back with pictures later in the week to show you my progress and let you know which way I went on the solid middle vs. Bow Tie fabric middle. Until later…
