Quilts with Disappearing Blocks: Quilter’s Magic

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Quilters are modern-day wizards, wielding cutting tools and sewing machines to breathe new life into ordinary fabric. But have you ever made a block… disappear? Our designers have. In Fons & Porter’s Quick + Easy Quilts February/March ’24 issue, we challenged them to work their magic to create fresh ideas for quilts with disappearing blocks. A disappearing block starts with a fairly simple block. Then, with careful slicing and dicing, a few twists and turns — and a few magic words — they take on entirely new looks. Let’s take a peek at the simple blocks — BEFORE the magic — and check out their final quilts.

Split the Layers by Patti Carey

Just imagine how Patti Carey used her magic rotary cutter to turn square patches and triangle-squares into fabulous blocks for her lovely Split the Layers quilt. Patti shares her inspiration for this design — and some tips and tricks for disappearing blocks on her blog.

quilts with disappearing blocks — Learn how to make this block disappear in Patti Carey’s *Split the Layers*.

Time Shift by Becky Rico

Using a bundle of colorful 10″ squares and one white print, Becky Rico made a batch of Hourglass blocks before she sliced and diced them to create Time Shift. With her secret cutting strategy, a gorgeous quilt can be yours in record time.

An Hourglass block gets a makeover in Becky Rico’s *Time Shift*.

Highways by Gina Gempesaw

Four-Patches are commonly used for disappearing blocks. But Gina Gempesaw followed a new path to make these simple units disappear. Her Highways quilt will keep you guessing — because you start with 21 Four-Patches to construct 16 blocks. There is some real magic going on here!

Rickrack by Ramona Sorensen

With nothing up her sleeve, Ramona Sorensen performed a little hocus pocus on a collection of 10″ squares to make Rickrack. If you have mastered stitch-and-flip corners, you can make the Snowball blocks to create her intriguing zig-zag design.

Simple Snowball blocks morph into Ramona Sorensen’s fun *Rickrack* quilt.

Hidden Hearts by Dee Sydnor

Impress your friends by transforming petite Nine-Patches into sweet little heart blocks like Dee Sydnor did for her Hidden Hearts quilt. It makes the perfect baby quilt or Valentine’s gift.

Make Quilting Magic

The mysterious twists and turns in quilts with disappearing blocks always add a fun layer of intrigue to quilting. So — are you ready to perform a little quilting magic? There are boundless possibilities for quilt blocks daringly deconstructed, rearranged, and stitched back together.

For more examples, check out our Pre-Cut Friendly Magic Block Quilt Patterns eBook. If you have made a disappearing block quilt, we would love to see it! Share an image with us on Instagram, Facebook, or the comments below.