I love quilt designing. Serious love it.  Custom quilt designing is so much fun it’s even better than chocolate milk.  And, I LOVE chocolate milk.

A client of mine, Carmen P.,  has a son who just got an Aliner Camper for his family.  Look at this adorable thing! (I’m unaffiliated with this company.  Just showing you how cute it is!)

She is making a quilt for the double and the twin bed inside.  Color scheme:  White & gray with a green border (to match the bits of green on the exterior).  Carmen came to the studio, we brainstormed and this is the design I suggested.  She loved it.  Her son loved it.  I created a pattern, complete with rotary cutting guides, for her.  All in a day’s work!  Do you like it?  She’s working on it and I’ll show you when it’s done.

I’m also part of the Quilt Design a Day (QDAD) group on Facebook.  The object of the “game” is to spend a bit of time (15-20 minutes) a day designing a quilt. To spark our creativity, we use images or words to guide us. This helps us flex our design muscles, explore designs, and it’s fun! In the last month or so, we’ve worked from a Word of the day.   Here are some of my designs:

On Dec 30th the word of the day was Happiness.  I thought about the New Year’s Eve parties (that I don’t go to) and how they might have confetti.  So, I created:  Happiness is Confetti.  My original design.

On Jan 10th the word of the day was Stars.  Well, I do love stars! Some of my favorite cousins are Starr’s (yes, you, Becky, Linda, Tammy, Tricia, and all of yours!) I was in a “bright” mood the day I did this one.   I’ve tried to include some orange tones in my designs because it’s not my fav…but it is fun!

On Jan. 11th, the word was Family.  I began thinking about how a new family grows:  a Mom and a Dad have their babies who grow into their own families.  I hoped this quilt represented the expansion of families.

On Jan. 14th I was delighted to see the word Crosses as the prompt!  I know it’s “busy” but it is the same block over and over in different sizes. As a Believer, I saw the thorns in this block and the Light of the cross.  I probably won’t make it but I do like it.

Dec 25th, we had the word Red.  I was thinking about homes, and guests, and minimalistic Christmas decor (I have quite the opposite… and I was thinking about the day I had to pack it up).   This was what I ended up with.  See it?  Windows and a door?  Yep.  Red.

December 31st was Celebrations.  We live on a lake outside the city.  Fireworks are totally legal.  We have neighbors who love fireworks and keep us entertained until about 12:30 on New Year’s morning.  (By 2 am we are over it! Thankfully our dog is so old he can’t hear the fireworks anymore!)  So, I designed this quilt and call it Celebrations:  Night Sky.

On January 13th, Mountains was the spark word.  I went literal.  Can could tell?   I was just playing with angles, shades, tones to create depth.

I’d love to take your suggestions and come up with ideas.  What word would you like to see in a quilt design?

Oh, and by the way – come join us on QDAD on Facebook.

Have a blessed week!

Annie