Lets talk about process

I cherish Sundays.  I get to spend time with my family, avoid work-work and usually can find some time to quilt.  Today I decided to to start a new quilt and I though you might be interested in my thought process.

8:05am Choose fabrics, I have so many ideas:

• Cut into my FMF stash- No, I’m not ready to do that yet, I need the perfect quilt for that.
• Use my oranges, golds and reds… I have some great Katie Jump Ropes and with some Mendicino and FMF it would be beautiful
• Then again, my aqua and reds have been calling to me
• A few castle peeps prints came in the mail this week. I’d love to use more than just two prints though, I might need to order more before I'm ready to make a quilt with these guys.
• Wait…the first fabric I ever purchased was a Hope Valley FQ pack from Denyse Schmidt. I have been itching to dig into those. The cloudy grey undertones would look great with either grey or khaki sashing. Oh yeah, I bought that khaki sheet from Ikea for $4.99 a few weeks ago…that would be perfect.

9:12 am Get inspired while nursing the baby

I’m queen of multitasking (as I am sure most of you ladies are) so while feeding the baby his “second breakfast” on the back porch I begin to surf.

 Starting with flickr and fresh modern quilts I quickly browse and remember some of my favorite designs. I refresh myself on some of the fun tutorials I have seen lately. These were the top contenders this morning.

• Oh Fransson’s crazy 9-patch lattice
• Quilt Dad’s Off the Grid
• Red Pepper Quilts' Sticks n’bricks (love how it looks in hope valley, but I cannot bring my self to copy both the pattern AND the fabric selection…I like to feel more creative)
• Oh Fransson’s New Wave pattern

I cannot say exactly why, but the new wave pattern really resonated with me today.  I like the large pieces of fabric that go into this design.  You really apreciate the beauty of the print with a larger cut vs tiny pieces.  I also enjoy how sashing looks around shapes other than squares.  It's fun and a little quirky.

10:23 am As I iron my fabrics I begin to think of ways to make the pattern unique
How can I take it one step farther? Here are some of my ideas. This is my stream of consciousness.

“Train tracks…crosses…plaid…stripes…zigzags (oh, I LOVE zigzags…maybe I should forget the wave and go straight to zig zags)…what about a plaid, cross quilt? I could make it look like the new wave quilt but build my waves in both directions. Maybe I can figure out how to cut the fabrics like in the crazy-nine patch lattice.”

Then I sketched a few ideas out until one felt good. Notice the baby monitor...the little guy is napping so I have a few hours of uninterupted thinking time.

11:10 am Make a turkey sandwich and get out the colored pencils
I began sketching out my concept and tried out color placement to see how my idea would work.  I liked the idea of creating darker and lighter vertical bands.  It would add subtile excitement while leaving the main focus on horizontal bands of color.

11:42 am Do the math

Before cutting ANYTHING, I do the math. Figure out the size of my finished block. And then mock it up in the actual dimensions to make sure I like my choices.

12:45 pm Blog the Process
\So that’s where I am. I probably need to do a little bit more planning before I am ready to cut into the fabrics. Truly, this is my favorite part of making a quilt. Planning and scheming about what it will become. At this moment, the potential is so endless. I am so full of hope for my new creation.

12:58 pm The baby’s crying
It must be lunch time, so its time to run.  There's a pretty good chance my design will keep evolving so stay tuned!