Graphite Checkerboard

Graphite Checkerboard is built from the Checkerboard block, also called Thirty-Six Patch, as a throw measuring 71 × 83 inches. Five twelve-inch blocks across and six down join on every side, so the two-inch squares run on as one grid. Every block is thirty-six squares, six by six, in two values only: warm ivory against near-black. Because each block is six squares across, an even count, the last square of one block is the opposite value of the first square of the next, and the grid does not break. Cut both solids to the same two-inch square, sew in rows of six, and press toward the near-black so the seams nest when the rows join. Order matters more than points. A two-inch graphite band and a three-and-a-half-inch near-black border stop the pulse at a dark edge. From across a room the surface is a tight flicker of light and dark; at the table it is only squares. It is for a quilter who likes that order and wants a tailored monochrome throw without triangles. The download is yardage for the three fabrics, a cutting chart, piecing order and the layout.