Tag Archives: quilt design

First finish of 2016!

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ladder

The palette for this quilt was inspired by the Pantone colors for 2016–rose quartz and serenity. The colors are unabashedly pretty and seemed just right for a baby quilt. The background fabric is handkerchief linen in a soft white and the center square is a Liberty print–gray Betsy, which I one of my absolute favorites. I added a smidge to the pink binding. I am tempted to make a quilt using the colors in the print–the olive green and coral are so unexpected and wonderful.

binding

This simple, pretty quilt was a nice way to start the new year. Now I’m ready to tackle some of my goals for 2016. My Etsy shop (etsy.com/shop/BrigitGail) has been growing–slowly, but steadily–without much nurturing, so this year I want to see how I can help it along. I really struggle with social media and marketing–but I am determined to get better at this. I think the trick is to find platforms that work for your personality. Instagram is a friendly space for introverts–pretty pictures of quilts I can manage! I also want to try a few new things–submitting a project to a magazine is first on my list. Are you looking to try something new in 2016? I’d love to hear what’s on your list!

This quilt is available in my Etsy shop.

Domino 2

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domino2patch

I just finished another version of this “domino” quilt. I rarely make the same quilt twice, but this pattern is so much fun. It feels colorful and playful but still sort of minimal. I used a little more orange in this version and I really like the warm and sunny palette of this one. I went with yellow binding, again. I think the yellow looks great with the backing fabric (a Zen Chic print). I am liking yellow more and more these days!

domino2tag

domino2full

This quilt is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Carolyn Friedlander pillow and the pleasure of patterns

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IMG_0552I haven’t posted in ages, but I’ve been busy sewing! It was really nice to just make stuff for a few months without thinking about taking pictures or how to try and make it interesting. Do people really want to read about the felted bunny I made to fit into an Altoid box bed?

But, this pillow is just too gorgeous not to share. I can say it’s gorgeous without feeling like a braggart because all credit goes to Carolyn Friedlander‘s creative genius. The pillow was made following her Botanics pattern, using some of her Architextures fabrics, and solids that seem very much in her palette. Even though I really love coming up with my own designs, following Carolyn’s pattern was so much fun. No worrying about how things would come together, no decisions to make, just following steps to make something that is an instant classic. Following this pattern was a great learning experience, too. It seems a little counter intuitive, but following a pattern can be a really creative experience; you learn new techniques and try out different designs and colorways. By working on this project, I feel like I got a tiny dose of Carolyn’s design DNA that will help evolve my own projects–good deal!

Quilts for kids–progress!

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IMG_2131This quilt top is finally starting to come together but not at all how I expected. I thought I would branch out from solids and simple design when I decided to use the star block from my guild exchange. I had fun making a bunch of stars in blues, reds, and a little hot pink. I made a few tries at piecing them together–and came up with a design I thought would work. A strip of the new stars next to the UFO star placed in a log cabin sounded good to me. Then I made the log cabin (or is this properly called a housetop?). It is so simple and fun. Here it is with the strip of stars. They just don’t seem to fit with the bold log cabin. So, I think that strip of stars will find its way into my own UFO pile (not to mention the extra squares I cut and the scraps created!)

IMG_2124Here it is without the stars–the outer square is a really pretty French blue–not as dark as it appears here. I think this plainer design is perfect for a charity quilt, since I don’t know who the quilt will belong to. I also like that it will be great for a boy but could also appeal to a girl.

IMG_2120I really love how this is ending up. I am not sure how I feel about my inability to work outside my comfort zone. Either I have really strong feelings about design or a limited imagination. At least, I can say I know what I like!

Bars quilt–WIP

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IMG_2094Here is the finished quilt top for my bars quilt. I’m really happy with the colors and the loose feel of the design. I was thinking of using Lotta Jansdotter’s Glimma in Slate for the backing, but I think it might be too dark. What about Simpatico wavy stripes in peach? Too gentle compared to the front? I’ve been inspired by all the interesting choices of binding I’ve been seeing lately. I think there a lot of options with this design. I’m looking forward to finishing this one!

P.S. It has rained every day in July here in Gainesville, FL, so all my photos have been light challenged. Hoping for sunnier days ahead!

Monochrome

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Lately, I have been really interested in monochromatic design–or maybe duochromatic (not a word apparently). I love this painting by Jasper Johns (photo courtesy of the MOMA website).

jj_greentargetI also love these two painting by Marc Rothko (photos courtesy of the National Gallery of Art).

1MAA69rothko_1964There is something serene about these paintings that really appeals to me. I am very tempted to make a Double Wedding Ring quilt in all green, but I wonder if it defeats the purpose of piecing fabric to make a quilt in similar values of the same color? I like the idea of simplifying a quilt as much as possible without losing the quilti-ness. What do you think?

Paper sketches

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I usually start my quilt designs in a sketchbook by making little origami paper quilt tops. I move the little scraps of paper around–like a very small scale design wall–until I like the arrangement. The origami paper colors correspond really nicely to Kona cotton, too–so, when I have a design I like, I match the paper colors to my Kona color card (greatest quilting purchase to date!).

When I scale up my design, I make a rough plan on graph paper to get a sense of fabric quantities. Then I work organically to piece the top–cutting out rough shapes, piecing and trimming as I go. Because the final design is improvised, even if  I repeat a general design, no two quilts will be identical.

I just completed a series of quilts inspired by Ellsworth Kelly paintings and I am excited to start a new series. I am debating between an improvised stacks design or a simple Amish bars style. Here are two paper sketches and the sketch for one of the quilts in my earlier series.

stackssketchbarssketch

Which design appeals to you?