I drafted a pattern to piece this block called Calico Grove. I like the block design but I think that the name drew me in at first. This block is illustrated on page 180 of 5,500 Quilt Block Designs by Maggie Malone. The block was first printed in Quiltmaker in 1992. I am sure that it would be possible to piece this block without foundation piecing but that is what I chose in order to keep my straight lines nice and even. If you’d like to try this block, I am sharing my templates with you. Just click here to download the pdf pattern pieces and here for the title page. I broke it into two pieces because the pattern pieces are landscape and the title page is not.

The blocks are reasonably time consuming. I have just made two. I was contemplating a quilt but might stop at two pillows. I’m not really sure. These aren’t my usual colors but I was inspired by the colors of Basic Grey’s new Plumeria paper collection and decided to go for it. They are springy and I need a little spring at the moment.
I used several shades of celery and lavender, grey and orange. The original block design was not scrappy but I decided to go that way. All the fabrics seen here can be found in my lovely sponsors’ shops (see sidebar) except for the two polka dot prints which are DS Quilts from JoAnns.