my Quilt Design Process

Heather Ross fabrics are made of fairytales and sunshine. Today I pulled out a very special stack - the Heather Ross 20th Anniversary collection. The colors remind me of Easter eggs and the motifs are some of her very best. I’ve been waiting for the right time to cut and sew with them, and it seems that moment has come!

So, what to make? I considered both saved ideas and original quilt designs sketches. I often start a quilt with this kind of discovery phase. This time I realized that I wanted to keep it simple: simple patchwork, no paper piecing, no fancy curves or techniques. Thus, I landed on the economy block, a classic quilt block ideal for showcasing Heather Ross’ story motifs.

Here’s an economy block I made as part of my last Penny Sampler. This block can be sewn traditionally or paper pieced. You can find directions for sewing this popular block in almost any size online. Hm, what size shall I make?

It was at this point that I started thinking beyond the economy block. I know myself. I’ll likely tire of making one-off blocks with no greater story to tell. A grid of economy blocks could easily have a secondary star pattern, with some planning for fabric placement. Yes, economy stars would be even more fun!

Here are two versions of my sketch. I call the one on the left Economy Star Parade and the one on the right Economy Star Chorus. I find both compelling. Which do you prefer?

One could make the economy star points stand out with consistent use of value, but I’ve decided to use consistent color instead. In the lovely natural light of this spring day, I’ve played around with the fabrics to test different options.

The indigo snails fabric always stands out to me in this collection. It is so much darker than the rest. I could use the snails as the star point fabric, but I don’t have quite enough. I’d have to add similar navy fabrics to fill out my stars - a bit of variation that might make the quilt even better.

Or, what if I use a solid for the star points, creating visual space to allow the fun Heather Ross fabrics prints to shine even more. I have plenty of this Kona Wasabi. It’s a yellow with a hint of green that feels like sunshine.

I take process photos for the blog, but also for my own design process. I find it helpful to switch back and forth between photos of my sketches or my fabric ideas to compare and, eventually, decide between them. Well, soon enough you’ll see which direction I’ve chosen. I wonder, what would you choose?

Fabric Notes: The Heather Ross 20th Anniversary Collection can be found at Fat Quarter Shop (USA) and at Purple Stitches (UK). Other charming Heather Ross fabrics are in stock at Sojo Fabric, Troll Brothers (Canada) and Fat Quarter Shop.