Last night I got a hankering to sew a bow tie block. I saw a pattern for one in a book I had checked out and returned to the library and I couldn't get it out of my head. The pattern was unusual and I was determined to try it. I had jotted down some notes so I grabbed some scraps and went to work. Here is my first try:
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I loved how this sweet little block came out and I wanted to see some whole quilts made with this technique, so I did a search on flickr for bow tie quilts and discovered that there was another way to build this block. So, of course I had to try it and compare the two. Here is the second block:
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The technique I used for the second block did not use the sandwich method like the traditional block, instead it pieced the corners together using smaller squares to form the little triangles in the center.

So, after this exercise did I prefer one version over the other? Truth be told, I am favoring the traditional bow tie. I love the dimensional quality of the center of the bow and I can't resist the odd construction. It is a bit trickier to sew, but I think it is worth it. What do you think?

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