Deana: Design Discussion

Val's Quilting Studio is having a discussion about design today.  You should check it out.  This post is my contribution to that discussion.

I have been designing quilts from day 1.  My mother-in-law started me off with a sampler quilt and I chose blocks from pictures in magazines that I wanted to make.  She showed me how to construct them to fit a 12" block, so from the beginning I learned how to create my own.  

I started designing on graph paper with a ruler and compass, but quickly realized that not every block is based off a square grid.  Now, I pretty much just look at a block and make it.

I want to purchase Electric Quilt for my design software but have not yet.  I use Quilt Pro and love it, but it is very old and I am unable to upload it to my new computer.  I use it mainly for paper pieced patterns and to see how a quilt will look when it is finished.

I am hosting a Row Quilt Mystery Swap on my blog.  I love row quilts - perhaps because there is so much variety in the blocks you make.  Here are some row quilts I have designed in the past as well as other non-row quilts:

Americana

Be Thankful - Autumn

 

Spring

a neighborhood with quilts hanging on the clothes line, flowers, butterflies, sunbonnet sues, a picket fence with a fancy gate, watering cans, birdhouses, and umbrellas. 

 

<div align="center">
<a href="http://dreamworthyquilts.blogspot.com/2014/07/deana-free-mystery-bom-swap-row-quilt.html" title="Daughters of Dorinda"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwjmnQYokr6qj-JDEdKkm7D4nuXZ-z2hhKsRz_JoJWbwT1nS2fwV14Z8PyoLYA5fhZaRXH8ftecXS2dDYqZlNFwgZpLn1c_CuxGeKhkYOSg9HTpNa53X3ufFNucdl47EDtaDAtKOwF9k-/s1600/button.png" alt="Daughters of Dorinda" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Below are photos of other quilts I have designed to give you an idea of my design abilities.  The barn quilt below was the result of a Daughters of Dorinda Mystery project where everyone designed their own quilt based on a certain technique and "rule" determined by the group.  It was so much fun but a mental design exhaustion project.  I have yet to finish it, but I love it!

I designed the quilt below with folded inserts.  I like to try every method out there and to incorporate all methods into my designs.

This one was designed for my daughter's hope chest.

Hexagons Pleasure

(Pattern available in my Etsy or Craftsy Shop)

And another one in different colors...

 Lacy Daisies WITH HAND EMBROIDERY

 

The last photo is a miniature quilt I designed for a family mystery quilting project.  I had the group cut fabric into itty bitty pieces and bag them with a block name written on the bag.  It was crazy fun!  The flying geese border is 1" x 1/2" units.  The double Wedding Ring is nuts -- never again.  It is paper pieced.