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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Creative Process

I really never thought anyone would find the process of making a quit interesting, but I have been getting more and more questions (such as, "how did you think to do that?" and "how do you know to put those fabrics together?" and "that looks hard to do - is it?") So I decided to join a whole host of other bloggers and I took the Process Pledge.
The Process Pledge

So you will start to see more photos and explanations of not just my completed quilts, but quilts in the making. I suppose if you are one of those people who do not find it interesting, then don't bother reading - just look at the photos and move along!

I just recently completed two quilts, and have two smaller quilts up on my design wall (two charity quilts that one of my virtual quilting bees are helping me with. If you want to see what I'm talking about, click on the "flickr" tab above. It will take you to my flickr photostream.) Even with all of that going on and since there was room on my cutting table, I figured I could start on another quilt. Why not, right?

I bought two charm packs several months ago (Freebird by Momo for Moda) and had a hard time deciding quite what to do with them. They've been up on my design wall in various arrangements and I never was happy with what I saw. For awhile I was thinking of making a new table runner, then maybe just some new pillows. Then I came across this Stepping Stones quilt and knew what I wanted from those unassuming little charm packs:

After scribbling away in what I refer to as my "magic notebook" (I really do call it that!) I created a sketch in Illustrator to see if I like the color distribution, the ratio of color to white and to determine about what the finished size would be. It shows promise!

I started it last night and it's coming together quickly. Last night I got all of the cutting done and during my toddler's nap time I was able to start piecing.

Once the kiddos are asleep tonight I'll be able to start sewing the long strips together. Oooh I love a fast quilt.

6 comments:

  1. It looks like an awesome pattern! I'm excited to see how it all comes together.

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  2. It's going to be fabulous! I love Freebird. Thanks for the link! :)

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  3. Hi, just wondering how you made your picture here...you mentioned illustrator? Is that on Adobe? Is it something you need to download or....? I usually just sketch in MY magic notebook, then scan it for on my site, but this looks so much nicer than my scribbles :-) If you have a second, can you let me know?

    I found you via Flikr when you were looking at my red, black and white box quilt. you have great stuff!

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  4. Kristie -
    I used Adobe Illustrator. I believe you can download a free trial version here:
    http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

    I don't always use Illustrator to fully map out my quilts. Usually they just get a quick sketch up in my magic notebook (don't you love those things?) and then I start sewing! I've also seen people use graph paper and colored pencils.

    I love your red & black quilt - it's so striking.

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  5. I would love to see this as a tutorial. I think you mentioned doing that but I didn't see it in your tutorials. Thanks for a great blog-- very inspiring!

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    1. Stay tuned! I've been getting a lot of requests for the tutorial so I'll be working on it soon!

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