Quilting Patterns

I've found several online quilting sites that offer free quilt block patterns as well as entire quilt patterns.  I print out these items and save them in a 3-ring binder that has several dividers in it (pieced patterns, applique patterns, general tips, favorite quilt sites, etc.). As my quilting experience grows, I'm able to flip through my binder and select new patterns that I've liked.  Also, I can take that page with me to my local quilt store for help in picking out fabrics and getting hints from the store owners about color, patterns, etc.  If I find something i like, I buy extra fabric and cut small pieces that I can slide into the sheet protector that holds the pattern.

I find that I buy large quanities of fabric when they are on sale.  I then tend to go home sore the fabric and forget what project or pattern I had bought the fabric for.  I have learned the best way for me to remember what I have bought each piece for is to store the fabric and the pattern together.  For quilts I use medium clear plastic storgage containers.  I also snip a piece of the fabric and tape it to the specific color block that I have chosen.  It makes it a lot simpler when I finally decide to work on that project.

I subscribe to a number of quilt magazines and have very little storage space in my sewing area.  I cut all Quilt projects I am interested in out of the magazines and put them into clear sleeves and a 3 ring binder.  That way I can pass the magazine on to friends who may be interested in the other projects and they do the same. I use tabs to label each category like-Strip Quilting, Paper piecing, Applique, ect

I always found when copying pictures to fabric sheets that there was a lot of wasted space on the sheet if you only need small pictures or only so many pictures.  So now I always fill in the rest of the sheet with other "themed" photos or images from the computer or other photos you have stored. I then take those pictures and make a photo fabric cube or shirt for children, friends or family... I used dragons for my last project "filler" and my son loves his new shirt with all the added dragons!  Get creative!  Works great for tote bags, aprons, small doll quilts or any thing!!  Have fun:)

I have several patterns for block-of-the-month, mystery quilts, etc. that are only papers, not quilt books, that were stored in various places in my sewing room.  I took an inexpensive 3-ring binder and cut some pretty, decorative scrapbooking paper to fit in the front, back, and spine inserts. I put in several plastic sheet protectors.  I now keep all of my paper patterns together, each in their own page protector.  I also save quilting tips, and ideas for future quilts. I keep this book on a shelf in my sewing room.  This is a great way to keep all loose quilting papers together in one place and it looks great!

Hey ladies, ever have a block that you hate to put together because you have to cut alot of strips or cut strips out of strips to make it.  How about converting it to paper piecing instead?  It is so easy that many people just don't think about it.  Take for instance any block that has straight lines.  They are the eaisest.  You just take some graft paper, if you don't have a program on your computer that makes quilt blocks.  You decide the size of the block.  Most blocks are 12" or 6".  You draw out a square that size and then measure and redraw the sections of block to the measurements of the original block.  Or even easier you can take the origianl block copy it and figure out where the sides would be sewn together and number them accordingly to put the block together.  If you paper piece it then you know your corners will come out perfectly each and every time and it is less the headache especially when it comes to those pesky triangles. 

Triangles are always difficult and if you paper piece them they are OH so easy.  And not to mention always the same size, so you are not going to have to worry about whether or not your blocks will line up correctly.

I have found that about any block out there can be paper pieced.  If you just look at how it is put together and find the starting point and work out from there.  There are some blocks that you will have to divide into 2 or 3 or even 4 sections to make it but it can be done.  Just remember to add a quarter inch seam allowance if you separate the block into sections, so you can put it back together.

Check it out and see if the blocks you are having difficulty with you can't just paper piece instead.  Hey and if you don't want to draw them all out just get one drawn or copied with a light box or whatever and just use your copy machine to print out as many as you need. 

Good luck paper piecing!  Once you start you will be addicted to it.

Constance Corns

While my mother was doing a sampler of star patterns, I cut out all of her blocks and included a computer image of how block looked with the material for block in a baggie.  I put them in order from simplest to most complex.  This was helpful when the triangle pieces switched from 2 making a square, to 2 making a triangle (4 making a square) so when she sewed them into square she knew what she had done wrong.

Taking a digital picture of your quilt and reducing it to black and white will help to decide which quilt design will go where on larger quilts. Reducing the picture to black and white cuts down on the color distraction and printing it out allows you to gain some control over unwieldly larger pieces. This way you can plan much easier what patterns will show up where on the piece.

My tip is to do with finding magazine and/or book patterns when you want them.   If you’re like me, you know that the pattern you want is in one of those magazines,  but you don’t know which one.   

When I find a particular pattern that I know I’ll want to refer to at a later date, I either scan the picture or take a digital picture of it.   I have created a file on my computer entitled “Quilting Ideas”.    When I save the picture I use something like this –

Duck Puddles from Quiltmaker,  Mar/April 2006 Issue could be saved as :  DuckPuddlesQMkrMarApr06

Lotsa Potsa Flowers from Fons & Porter Mar/Apr 2005 Issue could be saved as : FlowerPotsF&PMarApr05

When I want to look for the pattern a picture will always remind me, so I go to the "Quilting Ideas" file on my computer and set it to “thumbnails”.   That way all the pictures for that file come up and I can figure out quickly which magazine the pattern was in.    The magazine is a lot easier to find because I keep them in order and there’s not a lot of wasted time.  

To keep all my patterns together for a quilt, I purchase gallon size plastic baggies.  I get the kind that have a ziplock top so I can seal them quickly and and use the pattern as many times as I want.  I place in the bag a copy of the orginal pattern, a copy of the completed block, and all the pattern pieces.  Currently I am working on a block of the month and have cut backing and binding for all the blocks.  These are in a baggie that has the original pattern and a copy of the orginal finished quilt.  This way I have everything I need in one place for the quilt.