Behind the quilts

Have you seen these pictures?  Design photos!    When I design a quilt I take photos as I go along.  Photos help me see the blocks in another dimension.  It’s kind of like holding your work up to a mirror and looking at it in reverse.  Try it and you’ll see what I mean.  If something is wrong you should be able to spot it.

Remember Yoyoville?

I filled glass candy jars with my yoyo’s as I went along.  It was fun to do and I fell in love with the look of the jars.  When it came time to put them on the quilt I really had to force myself.  I had everyone making yoyo’s and by the time I finished I could have opened a candy store!  Some of you have made this into a full or queen size quilt (yes I have some basic directions if you email me)!  Think of the jars you would need and what a photo it would make!

As the quilt came together it was more and more exciting to see!

Finally I began construction on the houses!

Oh the joy of design.  It get’s me every time!  Seeing the finished quilt when it came back from my quilter was so much fun!

Here’s a rough sketch from “Postcard Cuties for Winter”.  I pin the sketches to my design wall for an idea of what the completed quilt will look like.   Sometimes I move them around, adjust the sketch, or go back to the drawing board and start over.   Once I’ve decided on the sketch, it’s refined for applique or embroidery.

Hummm, how will this look?  Do they fit in the blocks?  Each block has a number and a place but I write in pencil just in case I move  the blocks around!

Postcard Cuties for Winter finally comes together!

All of my quilts begin right here:  I sit at my desk with graph paper, calculator pencils and erasers.  The quilt is in my head, but I still have to work it out on paper.

“Le Jardin” was one of my favorite quilts to design.  It was a fun challenge to work in just a few colors.  I started once again with the graph paper and pencils.  Can’t forget the erasers as I use them a lot.  As I design a quilt I prepare the applique using the Spray Starch method. This allows me to see the finished blocks before they are actually appliqued in place.   Many changes are made to the blocks as I work.   It’s a process that I love, but it can also be exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.

More changes are made as the quilt is finalized.  Here’s the perfect example;  the bunny below is gray but I end up choosing a red fabric for the bunny because the quilt needs more balance, more color in the bottom corner.  The gray bunny is taken off, along with the cream fabric strip (yes, like you I HATE to rip out).  The little red bunny takes her place and I put in a darker fabric strip in place of the cream.

I knew when I looked at the quilt I knew  it was the right decision. It’s a scary thing this world we call color!  But truth be told  I LOVE red bunnies.  Especially when they make themselves at home in French garden quilt! 

Le Jardin is finally designed!

The same process goes on in the studio over and over.  Here’s the tree from “The Night Before Christmas”.  Had I told you ahead of time I was making a red Christmas tree, you would have thought I was nuts.  When you look at the overall colors of the finished quilt you can see a green tree just wouldn’t work!

The Night Before Christmas finished quilt…

And now I have this stack of fabric in the studio that’s promising to be another quilt very soon.  Hummmm, wonder what I’m up to?

Next up?

More photos!

Back soon!

Anne