I’ve always liked the patterns of quilts. There is something calming about repeated, colorful patches. You might be familiar with old-fashioned designs like “Log Cabin” and “Flying Geese”.

When I saw this buzz-saw-like pattern, named “Drunkard’s Path” I wondered how they made it.

Studying the block, the two shapes are a square and circle that are quartered. But then the design unfolds as you arrange the two colors and shapes.

Ok, I’m not into fabric so I made this design out of 1/4″ thick polystyrene board so I could toy with these shapes to recreate the path, and then some.

I started with a square. Then with a hole saw on the drill press, removed the circle, finally quartering each piece on the band saw. The final design will include their thickness, one more dimension than a flat fabric quilt.

Next I painted half of them blue, the other red. To make them a little more fabric-like I cut stencils and sprayed on a couple more colors.

Now’s time to have fun, playing with blocks to see what sort of designs can be made.

I’m far from done though. Next I’ll paint the sides and decide on a final design to be mounted on a different colored background.