Years ago, I was inspired by a special Quilt of Valor at a presentation I attended in Missouri. The quilt featured a center panel and included blocks of the states of the duty stations the veteran has been stationed in. I loved how each block was different but very significant to the veteran. This started my fascination and journey of learning about state blocks.
I soon discovered the Colorado Block which has a great history dating back to 1941. That was the year the block was first published in 1941 in the Kansas City Star. It was created as a token of friendship by Mrs. Pearl Bacon who lived in Northwest Kansas for her Colorado neighbors just over the state line. The block is still popular today and can be seen throughout our state in quilt store logos, designs, and more.
Inspired, I wanted to make a quilt with this special block and wanted the quilt to really celebrate Colorado. When I think of my beautiful state, I think of all the colors we see here in nature. I wanted to include this in my quilt and opted to use batiks and nature-print batiks in the colors I see throughout the year here.
I used many scraps in this quilt, including some fun small pieces and scrap bags from local quilt stores. I found the design to be a great scrap buster.
I struggled a bit on how to arrange my blocks trying to find the right sequence that would balance all the colors. My daughter came to my rescue with a great color lesson. She recommended I consider arranging the colors in an ombre sequence, grouping like colors together. It worked and I loved how the colors transition across the quilt!
There was also another fun discovery with the Colorful Colorado Quilt – the center pinwheel in the Colorado Block. This offers another design option if you want to add more colors to highlight the center of the block. I’ve included instructions and a diagram on how to highlight the center pinwheel for another variation of this quilt.
You can find the Colorful Colorado Quilt in my shop here.
Another fun bonus! For US Customers I offer 10% off quilting services for any quilt you make from my patterns.
Let me know what fun colors you’d make your quilt in. I’ve love to see how this block and quilt inspires you!