Thank you all for the lovely comments you've been leaving about the new pattern! I have to say that I'm really surprised how many other people are familiar with the card game Canasta. (It also sounds like I'm not the only one who learned it from my grandmother.) Now I'm feeling a little sheepish that there isn't a better connection between the card game and the pattern. It actually started out that way, but the pattern went in a different direction. I was still kind of attached to the name, so I kept it!
Of the three versions of this pattern, this is probably the quickest and easiest to put together. It uses templates to turn standard square-in-square blocks into wonky square-in-square blocks.
I used square rulers in three sizes, but you can also use square templates made from translucent template plastic or even just regular cardstock. The pattern includes several suggestions for making and using templates.
Although I didn't do any fussy cutting for this quilt, it's another one where the center squares of each block could easily be replaced with fussy cutting.
This version of the pattern can be made using yardage, scraps, or precut 2.5" strips and charm squares.
I made a pieced strip for the back of this one too.
My quilting was done with an aqua thread (Gutermann 602).
This is another one with no sashing, but each block has a solid ring around the outside. I used Kona solids in Indigo, Coal, Ash, Turquoise, Caribbean, and Azure. Prints include (among others) Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley and Katie Jump Rope, Kei Honeycomb Dots and Florals, Mingle by Monaluna, and Urban Chiks' 1974.
