Designing a Frame Block

One of my favorite Facebook pages to follow is Julie Silber Quilts. Julie Silber is a collector and reseller of antique quilts, and she shares the most beautiful photos of her collection.
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I always find myself inspired by her posts — admiring the artistry of the antique quilts and then challenging myself to re-create some of the designs in Electric Quilt 8 (EQ8).

A few weeks ago, one quilt really caught my eye — a gorgeous on-point medallion with overlapping corners at the center edges.

This was definitely not a pre-made layout in EQ8, but I loved the concept and knew I wanted to figure out how to draft something similar.

Rather than aiming for an exact replica, I decided to design a version that captured the spirit of the antique but was optimized for today’s tools and piecing techniques.

​My goal: create a block that’s both aesthetically pleasing and easy to piece.

Julie Silber Quilt Photograph found on Facebook.

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Exploring the Frame Options in EQ8

Within EQ8’s Serendipity feature, there’s a “Frame” tool that allows you to wrap blocks with a variety of pre-made borders. It’s a great way to add flair and dimension to your design.

I’ll admit — I don’t use this feature very often. While the built-in frames can be inspiring, their proportions don’t always lend themselves well to standard ruler sizes.
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Still, I decided to explore what was already available to see if any of the 130 frame options could come close to the look I was after.

There were quite a few on-point styles, but most extended the corners all the way to the edges or used traditional border shapes. Pretty — but not quite what I had in mind.​

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Designing My Own Frame Block

So, I took matters into my own hands and decided to design my own frame block. Creating it from scratch gave me control over every detail — and ensured the design would be piecing-friendly.

​Here’s the frame I drafted and my initial quilt layout using it:

Design Your Own Frame Block

Design Your Own Frame Quilt

In this week’s video tutorial, I’ll show you step-by-step how to draft your own frame block and use it in a quilt layout.

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Making the Math Work

When designing, I always set my block size and snap grid to make drafting easier.
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For this project, I set the block at 21” x 21” with snaps every ½ inch (42 x 42 grid). Because of the overlapping edges, I ended up with an odd-sized block.

Once the block was drafted, I printed a rotary cutting chart to see the sizes of the pieces I need for piecing the block.  The ones highlighted in yellow were a bit awkward for rotary cutting.

Strips cut at 1-7/8 inches for corner of block

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Center of block cut at 11-7/8" x 11-7/8".

In this version, the center block ended up with a finished size of 11-3/8" — not the easiest size for incorporating a pieced block.

So, I pulled out my trusty “Quilter’s Math” (or as some of my students like to call it, “Kari’s Math”) to adjust the dimensions.

Quilters Math Worksheet for Resizing Block

After resizing the block to 22¼” x 22¼”, I reprinted the rotary cutting chart to check the results.

Change Size in Rotary Cutting Chart to 22-1/4"

Strips for Corner Now cut at 2"

Center cut at 12-1/2" (12" finished) size

The difference was clear — the strip sizes now align beautifully with standard cutting increments, and best of all, the center square finishes at 12" x 12" (12½" including seam allowances). Perfect for dropping in a new block center!

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What's Next

Now that I have the perfect frame, I’m excited to design a block for the center — and I’ll share that process in next week’s post.

In the meantime, I’d love for you to try drafting your own frame block in EQ8! What kind of center would you design to go inside?

​Share your creations in the Learning EQ Facebook group — I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Design Your Own Frame Learning EQ Facebook Group Post

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​​Happy quilting.

​Kari

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