I stumbled upon the top image of CD cubes (original post about the cubes here) yesterday in one of my folders and was struck by the geometric pattern created by the sun & shadows. Lightbulb moment! "That would make a fantastic modern quilt for Shades of Grey!!!!!"
Although I would be perfectly happy just grabbing fabric and going, I'd really like to make a quilt pattern from this concept. So, I halted my horses and thought through a methodical approach that might yield an understandable pattern and makeable quilt, which I've never done before.
To begin, I placed the image in Illustrator and created colored blocks to mimic the contrasting shapes in the cubes (shown in the 2nd image above). Each square or rectangular block represents a quilt block that makes up the quilt.
My quilt will be for a queen-sized bed, and the size will be approximately 60" x 80". I played around with the blocks in another Illustrator window, and quickly realized that having 2 different shapes as well as 9 different block layouts for a beginner quilter (me) was a bit more than I could handle. This is primarily b/c I want to keep the blocks big. Each one is about 15" x 20", and if I had kept every block in each size, then each & every block would have to be individually assembled. Not impossible, but not conducive to pattern-making (I'm a beginner at that, too) and eventually quilt-making.
After I had all my blocks sized similarly, I saved each one as a separate jpeg and named them cube1, cube2, etc. I then imported these jpegs into Electric Quilt 6, and used each image as a template to create blocks within the program that can be colored, resized, rotated and on and on. The program is new to me, too, so I'm truly learning every step of this on the fly. My process for designing a modern quilt 1 or 2 years from now might be very different - but we all have to start somewhere!
Cube Quilt shown in Shades of Grey, garnet & gold
I experimented with about 20 different layouts, and finally settled on 4 blocks, repeated vertically down the length of the quilt 4 times ~ 16 blocks total. There will be a 1.5" sash between the blocks. The 4 blocks are all different from one another, so there's still an element of individual assembly - which also lends itself well to a uniquely modern aesthetic.
I also played around with the addition of 2 solid colors that will be part of the final design. Since this quilt is eventually going to be in our bedroom, I picked colors we like. These are subject to change!
Aaaaaaaand, this is where I have to stop for now b/c I need to learn more about EQ6 before I continue! Darn learning curve!!
Have a fantastic weekend! Hope the sun is shining!!
xo
Jan
Cube Quilt shown in Shades of Grey, chartreuse & aqua
