Piece By Number's Design Notebook

The Knight's Knot block offers some interesting design possibilities, but it does require care in selecting colors and setting arrangements to highlight the optical illusion of an intricately folded ribbon knot. Also, don't overlook those nice 2" squares in the centers of each pieced unit -- how about using them for signatures, or fussy-cut prints for an "I Spy" quilt? And of course, a Knight's Knot block would be a very nice addition to almost any sampler style quilt.

Horizontal Setting With sashing and plain cornerstones	In general, Knight's Knot is most effectively used with a sashing to separate it from its neighbors.
By alternating highly contrasting blocks (i.e. light/dark values or warm/cool colors), it is possible to effectively set Knight's Knot blocks without sashing.	Horizontal Setting Blocks in 2 colorways alternated

On-Point Setting
With sashing and half-triangle cornerstones

Here the different values of the sashing pieces create a second-level optical illusion of 3-D enclosing walls around each block. The cornerstones are simply half-triangle squares. Shown here is the Knight's Knot variation.

This design was suggested by my husband, a mathematician. He calls it "multi-scaling", but by any name, it certainly makes for an unusual layout. He even proposed adding more Knight's Knot blocks in the tiniest black squares! Click here for mathematical details about block sizes.

Multi-Scale

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Page last updated September 26, 2003

Copyright 2000 Beth Maddocks (Piece By Number)
All Rights Reserved
Permission is given to individuals to use patterns and designs for personal use only.
For other uses, please contact the author.