Am I the only one?

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07-12-2010, 10:47 AM

#51

np3

Power Poster

Join Date: May 2010

Location: Bakersfield, CA

Posts: 13,214

I try to look at the squares/rows and design my own pattern. I pick my own size and purchase fabric according to my design. I hate to buy patterns. I only purchase them for clothing.

07-12-2010, 11:06 AM

#52

Sewze

Senior Member

Join Date: Jan 2010

Location: VA

Posts: 663

I just wing it most of the time.

07-12-2010, 11:38 AM

#53

ronee

Member

Join Date: May 2010

Location: Lockport, Illinois

Posts: 55

I usually start out with a pattern but as my project progresses I find I start personalizing it. It makes it more fun!

07-12-2010, 01:30 PM

#54

ksea

Super Member

Join Date: Jun 2010

Location: Michigan

Posts: 3,601

No you are definetly not the only one. I have troble following all the cut 100 2 1/2 strips of this fabric and then sub cut 50 of those into 2 1/2 by 6 1/2 strips. OMgosh I get so confused so I just get a sheet of graph paper and draw the patteren out and then next I color it with my fabric choice and work from there. I do keep reading different patterns just in case one of these times my brain kicks in and I can actually follow it

07-12-2010, 01:31 PM

#55

roguequilter

Super Member

Join Date: Jul 2010

Location: over here

Posts: 1,113

not brain challenged....??creative thinker?? i don't use patterns either...unless it is one i have drafted myself. i don't know why...maybe because when i started quilting 25+ yrs ago...most of the books available were more along the lines of history of quilting and how-to's. my friend owned a craft store...took a quilt class from her...and she wasn't able to sell me any yarn or embroidery thread after that. but fabric and books...oh yeah!!!

07-12-2010, 01:55 PM

#56

roguequilter

Super Member

Join Date: Jul 2010

Location: over here

Posts: 1,113

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobo2000

If I like a pattern, I note the squares and then go an make my own pattern. So many patterns give you absurd amounts of fabric. 4.5 yards of this 3.0 yards of that 2 yards of each of three colors. Hey, how many quilts are we making. No one quilt needs 13.5 yards for the top. I end up with all of this extra fabric..so I design and work out my own fabric needs.

agreed. at a quilt retreat last fall, one of the members was telling us about a pattern in a mag and the amount of fabric it was going to take...i had seen and liked the same quilt...so we sat and figured out the yardage....decided there was a typo maybe...added a zero to the total. there are ooodles of sites on web with fabric calculaters. and i have found them to be very accurate.

http://www.quilt.com/HowTo/YardagePage.html - oldest quilt web page online....and a gold mine of information and patterns.

http://www.thequiltedsnail.com/scale.html
http://www.quilterscache.com/StartQu...iltingtwo.html
- very complete info on figuring your yardage needs...not a calculater..

i love the web :thumbup: best playground there is

07-12-2010, 02:01 PM

#57

roguequilter

Super Member

Join Date: Jul 2010

Location: over here

Posts: 1,113

draw a rough quilt ...don't need to be exact. make a few copies to play with. then use colored pencils to decide on color placement ...or get ideas for. then look for fabrics in colors close to what you decided on...and mix it all up...microprints look great mixed in with large prints/florals. plaids look amazing mixed with calico prints or even bali fabric...there are no rules..that is why i love quilting :D

07-12-2010, 02:02 PM

#58

roguequilter

Super Member

Join Date: Jul 2010

Location: over here

Posts: 1,113

Quote:

Originally Posted by kbiederman

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadQuilter

Are you talking about the shapes and order of the pattern pieces or the colors that are used in a sample? I have to follow the pattern to make sure that my star doesn't end up looking like a wedge cutter, but I pick my own colors. Sometimes I change size and layout too - sometimes I follow the rules. It all depends.

It all frustrated me to be honest! I have tried to pick my own fabrics, and then I can't decide what I want to use for which, and therefore I am still standing there like a dumb-dumb not being able to figure out how much I need of which :) So, I pick what I like, and see what happens! I made a Turning Twenty that I really liked (oops, I didn't buy the pattern, just figured it out from the pic!) and and tube quilt, and d9p, and a few simpler designs, and they mostly turn out how they are supposed to! Glad I'm not the only one pattern challenged!

07-12-2010, 03:40 PM

#59

VernaL

Senior Member

Join Date: Jun 2010

Location: So Cal

Posts: 576

I usually use patterns. I got a book and I loved the quilts in it. When I started to make the quilt, it was one of those books that said "to make this version, go to p.22 for ..." I have trouble when you have to go back and forth in the book. I have the same problem with recipes. Anyway, when I followed the pattern, I somehow got lost and I couldn't get the blocks together. So finally I sat down on the floor and just laid out the blocks the way I thought they looked good. The quilt came out wonderful, but looked nothing like the pattern. But usually I use patterns all the time.