The Design Process

So I had 7 left over squares from another project that I haven't posed about yet.  And I love these squares. (love!) ...but I haven't enough fabric to make more(sad face) and for you non-quilter-readers out there, 7 does not a quilt make!

So there I sat this morning, playing with different layouts for them ... maybe making a couple pillows from them, played with adding strips or other blocks to make it a small quilt ... but none of it was (just) right.

Then I realized I should think about the blocks not as the central point of the quilt design, but instead as a part of the whole.  Duh, I know. I picked out two fabrics that are in the blocks and one other, a beautiful Kona Gray color that sets off all the other colors.

Steps:

1. First I got to drawing ... I started out by drawing a 5 X 7 grid. Then I picked 7 squares of the grid to subdivide and match the squares I had been playing with.
2. Then I took a red, gray and a blue pencil and I started to fill in the grid.  I wanted to challenge myself to not just immediately use lots of gray so I right away colored in a big block of red and a big block of blue.  ...that left me with a grid with a big red block and a big blue block and 7 multi colored blocks!
3. Finally, I had fun and mixed them around and ended up with this:

I love it.  Once it is sewn i may decide to make it bigger / more lap quilt size. Although this would be a good baby blanket size, and it has lots of stimulating contrast.

Here it is all laid out on my design wall.


What do you think?

I think ... I'm going to switch two of the upper right hand blocks (see picture to the left).

 Here's an updated picture with some of the blocks switched around to the right




This the beauty of the design wall fyi, I can play with the layout easily before I start sewing!

Three layers of magnet paint. Some super strong magnets.  And we have ordered some steel trim to put around it that will be even stronger so I can hang heavier items.

... to be continued...