I have another quilt design to share with you. It's called Plinko and it's a crib or lap sized quilt. You can find it in the Summer 2015 issue of Fons & Porter's Easy Quilts. I named it Plinko because the diagonal elements in the design reminded me of the game plinko. You may be familiar with this game from seeing Plinko played on "The Price is Right" game show. My older sisters had a plinko game when I was little. I think all the disks were lost by the time I was old enough to play with it. Isn't that always the story? Anyway, the fabric collection is called French Navy by Studio 8 from Quilting Treasures fabrics. This collection includes pretty flowers and diagonal stripes in red, cream and blue. It was quilted by Pat Hluska. Click on the quilt for a link to the quilt kit. Click on the words that underlined for links to the fabric collection, the magazine or to see Plinko in action. This design came to me very quickly and didn't require a lot of further development. I sketched the design I envisioned first and then looked for the blocks within the design. Usually I design the block and then see what a quilt would look like repeating that block. Another lesson learned. As usual this was the result of time spent waiting for an appointment somewhere. I'd have to say is was time well spent. I recommend carrying a sketchbook with you where ever you go. You never know when you might run into inspiration and you should be prepared. As Edna Mode, from "The Incredibles", once said "Luck favors the prepared."
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I have a new baby quilt design to share with you. It will be published by McCall's Quilting. You will find it in McCall's Quick Quilts June/July 2015 issue. The design is called Sweet Shoppe because the motif looks a bit like wrapped candy. This design uses Lulu Fabrics from Quilting Treasures © Sparky & Marie by Joy Creates, LLC. This is a pretty collection of bright and cheery prints. The quilting was done by Pat Hluska. For this design I didn't depend on my sketchbook. My goal was to take a common block and see what would happen if I changed the color placements in the block units. I have always liked the Shoo-Fly Block and decided to try using this block for my experiment. It's a simple nine-patch that holds a lot of potential. I used my Electric Quilt (EQ) quilt design software to help me explore the possibilities. I started with the original block in a tiled setting. Then I switched the color placement for two of the blocks half-square triangle units that were opposite each other. Instead of the colored triangle touching the center square it is now in the corner of the block. I liked the way this looked but felt that it needed something more to give it more interest. So I introduced an alternate block coloring. It seems that this was just what the design needed. Next I switched the grey scale values for colors. Here's a glamour shot of the quilt. Doesn't it look cute sitting next to the candy jars?
I have new quilt design in the May/June 2015issue of Quiltmaker magazine. Below, you will find on the left, the cover of the issue featuring a beautiful quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter. At right below is the finished quilt as seen in the issue featuring "Calypso" Batik fabrics from Timeless Treasures. Click on the image for the kit. This quilt was designed while patiently waiting to set up a new mobile phone contract for me and my family at my local Best Buy Store. It was a long enough process to begin with. Then the computer gremlins of cyber space decided to get involved and the process got even longer. But it was O.K. because I had my sketch book with me. I always bring a sketch pad with me wherever I go. 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. Now that I had a design that I liked, I further explored my options using my EQ program. Below you can see my journey through the design process. From one step to the next I would color in different pieces of the block design using different values of grey. Eventually I came to the arrangement of values that I felt best enhanced the design. Next I did a mock of the design using basic colors from the EQ palette. Finally I looked through my EQ fabric library till I found a collection that I felt would look nice in this design. I found a great collection in my EQ Stash 2014 Download 02 folder. The collection is called Blueprint Basics. It’s designed by Valori Wells for Robert Kaufman fabrics. I was able to parse out two colorways for the design from this one collection. Below are the two looks and their individual blocks.
I received a nice surprise in my mail box. I have a design in the spring 2015 Quilts from Quiltmaker’s 100 blocks. My quilt design, Stepping Stone, is on the cover of alongside two other beautiful quilts. Wow, this is exciting! The block used in my quilt was published in Volume 3 of Quiltmaker’s 100 Designer Blocks. You can read more about the block if you click on the image of the block below. I have a quilt in Quiltmaker Magazine’s March/April 2015 issue. The design was inspired by a sketch I had made of a carpet I saw once at a flea market years ago. The sketch is not a very pretty sight. It’s fairly old and has seen better days, but I decided to show it to you because of the favorable response to the sketches I posted of my 100 Designer Blocks Vol. 10 posting.
I decided to finally do something with it. This design is the result. The fabric in this quilt is Forest Frolic and Sketch by Timeless Treasures. It was quilted by Janice Roy. She used an adorable forest critter themed pattern to complement the fabric. Isn’t it cute? Check out the gallery of quilts below to see what the design would look like with other collections. Each one is labeled with the name of the fabrics used. Visit the underlined links for more information. Happy quilting! I have a new quilt pattern in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting Magazine. The design is called Spinning Flowers. The fabrics in the quilt are from two collections by Quilting Treasures called Petals and Matrix. Petals is a pretty group of calicos that come in a variety of colors, textures and values. Matrix is a group of blenders that has a cross hatched texture printed on it. The two together make a great combination. The pattern can be made using precut 2 1/2" strips. You could use an easy-angle ruler for the half square triangles. I used a block that I found in 100 Great Quilts Blocks by Maggi McCormick Gordon. The block is called Formal Garden and it's a nine patch block. Below is the original block with the value placement shown in the book. Next to it you can see what it looks like when you join four blocks. When I looked at the four blocks together, I saw a flower at the point where the blocks meet. So, I proceeded to change the value placement to make the flowers the focus of the design.
I'm very excited to tell you that I recently did an interview with Diane Harris from Quiltmaker magazine. You can find the link for the interview in the post about me on the EQ Blog- Behind the Mouse. In the interview I explain how I design blocks and quilts using Electric Quilt software. Don't forget to click on the link for the Scrap Squad. These quilters always come up with awesome variations on the design. I'm always amazed by their creativity!
Hi Folks, my good fortune continues with a design featured in Quilty Pleasures Blog from Quiltmaker magazine . The design is called Hip Hopscotch and it's the online sew-along project for their Back to School Party. This is another design that I came up with while scribbling in my graph paper sketchbook. The block is very simple and the layout is not complicated. The magic happens with your choice of fabric color and value placement. As you can see in the examples below the design has endless variations for you to explore. In fact, the bottom three designs use fabrics from the same collection. Watch the Quilty Pleasures blog in the days to come for an interview I did with Diane Harris. On day 5 of the blog you can find the link for the pattern and the adorable quilt label they are offering.
I'm excited to that have another quilt in Quiltmaker magazine. You will find the design, called Magic Stars, in the September/October issue. The designed was inspired by the diagonal designs found on decorative ceramic tiles. I've always been fascinated with repeating patterns. I love the surprise design you see where the corners meet when you connect the tiles. Below, you'll find the design depicted in a couple of different collections now available from Quilting Treasures Fabrics. Below that are the individual blocks from each quilt. If you go to Quiltmaker Blog you can see what their Scrap Squad folks did with the design.
I have a new quilt design that appears in the Fall 2014 issue of Fons & Porter's Easy Quilts, The official publication of the Quilters Club of America. The quilt is simple to construct. It meets the guidelines for and has been approved for Fons & Porter's Quilts for Kids program. The basic block for the quilt is shown below left. It's a simple design that looks complicated but it isn't. The quilt appears to be woven in my eyes. The fabrics are from the Crayola- Ready, Set, Color collection from Quilting Treasures. This design would look cute with any fabrics. If you make one please send me a picture and permission to post it on my site if desired.
Thanks, Janice |
Janice Averill
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