This was the idea I’ve had rolling around in my brain for a good two weeks. It was so liberating to get it in to fabric!
A peek at my complex design process:
Multiple iterations later I had a design that made me smile. I started with the sketch in the center of the paper moving to the one above it. The pieced border appeared out of necessity. I’ve tried EQ6 but never mastered the process. I’d much rather sketch and sew and see where it leads.
I use up fabric from my stash that I can comfortably toss into the trash. A very difficult balance. I can’t stand to sew with ugly fabric so I tend to give my purchasing mistakes away and use fabric I like but isn’t something so incredibly precious that I’d be heartbroken if it’s a throw-away.
I constantly remind myself of a Nancy Crow quote from one of her books. She said she never worries about wasting fabric while she’s working out a design. It’s a difficult idea to embrace but so important. If I sew something I don’t like I just put it to the side and start again. Mistakes = baggage. I like to keep the creative wheels moving forward.
Designs to be published as a pattern get translated to Adobe Illustrator after the fact. I did a combo process with the Carousel Quilt design. The design started on paper and then immediately moved to Illustrator. I already had the fabrics available as scanned images so I made them into swatches and played around with the placement till I had one I liked. At that point I sewed the sample quilt.
Give me a few more days to get a pattern together. The early autumn weather is calling me!
Your table runner is great! I love all the pinks mixed in with the red and green
I came up with something very similar to do for a friend for Hanukkah! You beat me getting it onto fabric though!
I’m liking the looks of that table runner! And thank you for sharing your design process. I struggle with combining fabric patterns, still, and you make it look so effortless.
I love this runner. You know, for some reason, I’m always afraid of putting bright pinks and reds together. Thank you for reminding me that it can be done with spectacular results!
Really looks so nice! Really nice!
I love it…the colors are so vibrant!
Oh my! That is so yummy! Thank you for showing it to us!
I’m a paper and pen quilter too. Those fabrics are great! I’d have trouble throwing them away. =)
~jen~
That table runner is just wonderful and I always notice how crisp and lovely your pieces are…you must have a super iron!
Love red and pink together…they are a natural because they are cousins…. :0)
Thank you for the smiles today that your blog gave me
Mary Lou
Love it! I hope that you will have not only the pattern but a kit too!
Absolutely love seeing and reading about your process. Great thing to remember, I’m trying to embrace the “if you love it, then use it” idea myself, and stop treating things as too precious to have out and use up. My family and I deserve it, right?!
(And my goodness, you have celebrities commenting on your blog. How exciting!)
Wow… that is SO pretty. I LOVE those whimsical Christmas fabrics!!! They look identical to some scrapbooking paper I have around here. Are they Moda?
Next question, although it sounds strange – when you use Adobe Ills, how do you get all the shapes together to form a pattern? I’m totally in awe. lol
Love it! I think I will pick up on this idea for a Christmas table runner …
Love your table runner, especially the fabrics. I’m participating in a Christmas Cottage Block Exchange and I’m also using these Michael Miller fabrics. They are such fun.
Thanks everyone!
Krissy: the fabrics are mostly from the Michael Miller Christmas fabric collection. In Illustrator I make rectangle objects for each piece in the quilt. I use the snap to grid feature which allows me to put them in place very easily. I can then experiment with fabric by changing the swatches on each piece of the quilt.
The real time saver for pattern writing comes when I can pull those rectangles back out, add some arrows with numbers and it becomes my piecing diagram.
This is a very cheery piece, Kathy! I love the pattern and all the color play…the juicy citrusy line is such a joy paired with the sweet pinks and red…super!
)
Yay for another pattern!
The piecing looks great! The notebook reminds me of my own ideas, except I hardly ever have time to implement them. Maybe when the girls are older!
I love this new tablerunner!! It is just so happy! That makes 2 that I will now have to make!
Love the table runner! Good luck making the pattern. It will provide for many many gorgeous table-runners!!
I can’t wait to see the pattern! I was very inspired by the one that appeared in Quilting Arts!! Before I could even get the issue locally I ran out to buy Christmas fabric for it- only to be totally wooed by gorgeous orange and green and scarlet fat quarters- so I made an “autumn” runner for my hall table based on it. I’m still hand-stitching the binding strip (which takes me ages), but I hope to get that done by the end of the weekend. So, now, maybe I’ll have to use your new pattern for my Christmas runner…
k, so I am new to your site, and I LOVE it!!! You do amazing work. I was wondering, where you find all of your wonderful fabrics? I am starting to take up sewing again. I have not had the time or space for a long time to start any projects. I can’t wait to start, but I REALLY want some cool fabrics! Thanks for your info! Happy quilting!
Ahhh! I must have this pattern! I’ll be first in line to order when it comes out!