Have to say, this one didn’t turn out as I’d hoped. (It’s been redesigned and needs to be rewoven.) In its defense, I designed it on graph paper–long before I began designing with charts on the computer–using the palest pencil imaginable. It was hard to see the diagram to transfer it to digital media, so I can only imagine (because I can’t remember) how difficult it must have been to design. Apparently I had no trouble following my nearly imperceptible graphite marks because I wove what I wrote. Nevertheless, while transcribing the pattern I decided to make some improvements (untested at this point, but I’m certain they’re improvements).

Before I could transfer the semi-visible drawing to the computer, I thought I’d better get a look at the original so I could know what I was trying to copy. Here’s a rough sketch of what Road to Tennessee looked like in my quilt block book.

Road to Tennessee sketch

Read More →

Though I’ve listed this pattern as a variation of Whirling Diamond, I decided to give it the name it had in my quilt block book. There are online quilt block designs called Churn Dash that look very different, but I suppose one woman’s churn dash might easily differ from another’s. Churn Dash and the pattern that follows (Whirling Diamond variation 2) look like their namesake, but their diagrams are dissimilar.

Churn Dash, front

Read More →

Spring is here and the crocuses are up.

I don’t know if I love this pattern or not. I got the idea from a quilt block and I reproduced the pattern fairly accurately. The trouble is, with quilting you get to use different colored bits of fabric to make the shape of the flower more apparent. This design shows a large amount of flower body without emphasizing the open petals. As it now stands, here it is…

Crocus

Read More →

Apparently I designed a LOT of quilt blocks on 20 Oct 2017. These three are only a few of them. This post focuses on the third block. I’m sure this is a really common quilt block pattern, but I can’t find a name for it anywhere (though I’ve located a few very similar-looking blocks). I decided to call it “Whirling Diamond” till someone comes along and corrects me.

20 Oct 2017 — a good day for pattern designs

Read More →