My favorite sketch book is a 6” x 8.5” spiral bound graph pad. The grid comes in handy since most of the designs for quilting blocks are grid based. I also have a non-gridded sketch pad for general doodling purposes. Almost all of my designs come from time spent exploring ideas in my sketch pad. I should spend more time playing in my sketch book. It’s good for my mind and I recommend it to anyone looking to expand their creative juices.
Below are my initial sketches for the design that I drew while in the store while waiting for the gremlins of cyber space to lose interest in us. I started with the sketch on the left and then I sketched it out as a repeat to see what it would look like. I always start with a black and white version of the idea. When I get to my Electric Quilt (EQ) program I move into the realm of using grey scale values to enhance the design.