I like checkerboards. I think anyone who has looked at my quilts probably has that figured out by now. I figure the typical 9 patch (my favorite block to make) and a checkerboard 16 patch block must be first cousins!

Checkerboards was the first quilt I made in my 2” series. I called it Light ‘n Dark

In fact, in the 2” series, I used them several times.

Here they are in the centers of some blocks in Sixteen in the Spotlight!

I used them in the border of the quilt I called Confetti:

and Sea Lanterns:

Banded Checkerboards featured them :

I used some of them in Explosion!

I used them in the center of Scrappy Sawtooth Stars:

I used them in several other patterns as well - Here they find themselves in the border of Claire’s Lanterns:

Pixie Stix ‘n skittles used them liberally:

as did Radiant Cross: - by varying the size and coloration of the checkerboards I was able to achieve a new look (for me) with the checkerboards:

And I used them in Checkered Past:

And in Autumn Wishes (pattern coming)

Starstruck heavily featured checkerboards:

and then Checkered was the finale! It is number 50 in my Upcycled Blues series! This quilt had ONLY checkerboards on point.

I do not know exactly WHY I like them. They are easy to make and when using up scraps, super easy to use! Maybe that’s why. I feel like I’m getting the “best bang for my buck” - or rather “the best use of the fabric” when I use checkerboards.

Actually doing this post forced me to relook at my quilts and patterns. I actually had thought I had done even more than this with checkerboards. I guess those 9 patches got me confused! (First cousins, after all!)

So what do you think about checkerboards? Do you use them very often? Do you like them? Why or why not?

Let me know what you are thinking!

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store!