Spool Block or Japanese X

I had big plans last week to finish up my two prepped groups for my Starlit Skies quilt (2017 Summer Block of the Week by Primitive Gardens), but shortly before running errands on Monday, my Jeep was stolen from my driveway.  That put a dent in my day and for a few days following.  For my facebook friends that followed along when the GPS pings were relayed to the Everett police, it was pretty exciting to know they had sight of the vehicle.  Quick note before quilting post commences, if your car has an app such as Uconnect (for Jeep, and probably other vehicles I'm not sure about) and OnStar for other models, hubby's Ford pickup has a different app that I can't think of the name:  Be familiar with it, download it and at least register!  I did not have to have a running subscription to get the GPS going, but I did have an account (free) already that I started years prior (mine is a 2014 model).  For those without the GPS pre-installed in their vehicles, there are aftermarket devices that you can install as well.  I assume you'd want those in hidden places though (because thieves go through everything!).



We were able to get it recovered within 10hrs (abt 6hrs after I remembered Uconnect and called them!), and today it is getting detailed to remove the smoke smell and for a spa day.

Now onto a new block.  The original block design is attributed to Nancy Cabot (1938) under the name Spool Block, but it is also sometimes referred to as the Japanese X Block because I guess a Japanese quilter at the Tokyo Quilt Festival entered a winning quilt with this design (around 2010, says the search query on this block).





Three different sites with three different size directions:
10" https://scissortailquilting.com/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2018/08/XPlusQuiltBlockPatternV2.pdf
8" https://badskirt.blogspot.com/2011/04/japanese-x-and-scrappy-quilt-tutorial.html
12" https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Japanese-X-and-Plus-Quilt--A-Tutorial.html

I am doing this with a group of friends.  I wasn't sure what to use, but decided to just play with a charm pack I had.  Not all the colors had four charms to make it a one-color-corner block, so I will end up being somewhat scrappy with the color placement.  I found an old fabric panel in my stash of masterpieces in cats, so I played with that.  When I saw the site with the 12" blocks with the Kaffe fabrics, I fell in love. I may make up another in those fabrics I have hoarded next (larger size for a lap quilt).





First I have to see how this smaller cat version ends up!