My great Grandma was a master quilter. I’m blessed to have a few of her quilts, as well as quilts from my husband’s grandmother. These quilts give me inspiration as I draw on this rich heritage of traditional quilts and add my own personal flare.
One of my favorite ways to draw on the past is to play with traditional quilt blocks. I enjoy exploring the many ways they can be combined, twisted and turned, or experimenting with color to give them a new look. I’ve enjoyed doing this with Majestic Mountains, Dresdens, and Log Cabins.
These traditional blocks are just a few you could play with to give a contemporary feel.
In addition your choice of fabric will affect the look of your quilt. Replacing the darker Civil War and reproduction fabrics with bright new modern fabrics gives new life to your quilts. In 
Scrappy Dresden’s I used bright reds and aquas and placed them on a scrappy gray and black background.
A third way as previously mentioned playing with how you layout blocks can be a great way to give new life to traditional blocks. Try spinning a block or giving it a quarter turn will give some blocks a whole new look. Rhythm and Blues is an example of this. Here I took Majestic Mountain blocks and had them run diagonally through the quilt. 
Similarly trade out traditional methods for more modern ways. In Mary’s garden I incorporated improve piecing through crumb fabric to make my appliqued tulip pieces. 
Finally add your story. I do this with my sampler quilts. I use the time honored methods of patchwork to create a unique quilt of things I love. 
However you choose to add to the time honored tradition of quilting. Have fun adding a piece of you.
