Inspired by Fabric: Cross Road to Grandma's House

Combine two classic blocks like Barbara Eikmeier did in this Waddington Road quilt and you get a cozy, heartwarming quilt that's easy to make! The "Cross Road to Grandma's House" quilt is featured in the March/April 2017 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine.

"Cross Road to Grandma's House" by Barbara J. Eikmeier; machine quilted by Denise Mariano;

featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting March/April 2017

We asked Barb to tell us about the "Cross Road to Grandma's House" quilt.

She said: "This is one of my favorite quilts from this collection, and I think it’s because it’s the first Waddington Road quilt I made. I get kind of sentimental about that. But it’s also a really super easy quilt to make."

Q. Tell us about the design.

BE: It features two blocks—the Album Cross block set on point with an alternate Snowball block. I carried the Snowball blocks out into the setting triangles. The Album Cross blocks use all the prints, and then I sorted all of the tan fabrics into a pile and used them for the Snowball block backgrounds. I like the subtle difference in background colors they create—it’s just a subtle change flowing across the quilt.

Q. How did you choose the blue for the Snowball block corners?

BE: I chose the darkest, most saturated fabric in the collection because I really wanted those star points to pop out.

Q. How did you choose the outer border?

BE: I really love that blue plaid. I thought that I could showcase it in a wide outer border. It really pulls out the dark blue of the star points, and it ties everything together nicely.

Q. What do you like best about the quilt?

BE: Can I name more than one? I like that it showcases the whole fabric collection—so many different prints to see. I really like the mix of backgrounds in it—all the tans and creams. And finally, I like how the blue holds everything together—the blue in the snowball blocks act as star points and really create a secondary design—they fool your eye as to where the block itself is.

Q. How does the machine quilting enhance this quilt?

BE: It was quilted by Denise Mariano. She’s so creative in how she places designs! In the centers of the snowball blocks, she put a motif that fills that space evenly. There are little fleur de lis motifs in the corners of the snowball blocks. The outside border has a pretty interlocking cable that I think goes with the primitive look of the fabrics

Q. What do you plan to use this quilt for?

BE: I’ve just started offering a presentation for quilt guilds about designing fabric and how I use my fabrics in quilt designs. I’ll be sharing this quilt in my presentation!

Q. This quilt was featured in a Love of Quilting episode. What was that like?

BE: This was my second time on the show, so I had an idea what it would be like. The program is built around three teaching points for constructing this quilt. We used a Fons & Porter ruler to trim up the Album Cross blocks. Then I showed the folded corners method on the snowball blocks. Then the method I had figured out for adding corners of setting triangles. Talked a little about color contrast as well.

We filmed straight through—no segments, no breaks. The crew at Iowa Public TV is phenomenal. Everything goes smoothly, and the crew is so efficient. It’s really a fun experience. It was especially fun for me to see Crossroads to Grandma’s pinned up on the design wall on the set.