Modern Quilt Design

Just finished a nice modern quilt for Doug, and now I am drawing designs for the next modern quilt- one by Lyn Baker.  I will most likely draw up 4 or 5 designs for her quilt using Art & Stitch program.  Here is my first one- a design for the sashing part of Lyn’s quilt:

mod sashing 1 by Carla Barrett

As you can see, this is a simple geometric design for a smaller border or sashing.  It has a nice modern vibe and will go with other parts of the quilt and designs I will be using.

Art& Stitch is a terrific program, it only took me a few minutes to import my quick sketch from Photoshop, then trace over the design using the Bezier Tool.   I first saved it in the ANS extension, then saved it with the extension used by my machine- an Intelliquilter.

Stay tuned!  Have several quilt images to share with you in the near future!  Carla

Art & Stitch: Designing a Series

As part of my ongoing practice after attending Theo & Loes van der Heyden’s Art & Stitch  workshop, I decided to show you how I drew a doodle and turned it into a series or quilting designs for my quilts.  If you are interested in learning how to do this, be sure to sign up for Theo and Loes workshop, too.

Let’s start with a doodle:

copyright 2013 Carla Barrett

Then you combined 2 blocks to make this design:

copyright 2013 Carla Barrett

Notice there is a cute little critter that emerged once the blocks combined?  I love the randomness of finding surprises like this.  Next, we will combine 2 triangles to make a block design:

copyright 2013 Carla Barrett

Now add 3 more blocks to create a large block design:

copyright 2013 Carla Barrett

We are just getting started!  Let’s make a border design to match the other blocks:

copyright 2013 Carla Barrett

How about a wreath where the critters are looking inward:

copyright 2013 Carla Barrett

Or, critters looking outward:

copyright 2013 Carla Barrett

In order for this design to stitch out without jump stitches, all I needed to do is add a transition design:

copyright 2013 Carla Barrett

Can you tell I am having fun?   By the way, my Birdy Designs are for a future post….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Digitized Fun!

I promised I would share some designs drawn in Art & Stitch (ANS) software to practice what I learned in the workshop by Loes and Theo van der Heyden.  

In this class exercise, I started by drawing some feathers in a triangle block, then made a simple block motif by copying 4 times:

design by Carla Barrett

To be honest, it doesn’t ring my chimes yet.  So I decided to see what would happen when I copied more blocks designs together:

Yes, this block works for me now.  I like that you can take a ho-hum block design and turn it into a better design by playing with the program.    Once again, it only took me less than 10 minutes to create the block shown above.  I see lots of fun designs in my future!

Next up on my quilting table will be a lovely modern quilt by my friend Lyn Baker.  Lyn is a wonderful binding instructor and you can catch a class with her at High Sierra Quilters in Placerville, CA.  If you do not see a class on the website, but trust me, she has them regularly.  Contact Doug at the store if you need a binding lesson with Lyn.  Lyn is responsible for my huge improvement in my bindings.

Anyway, I plan to design some fun modern designs for Lyn’s quilt and then digitize them for practice.  I will be sharing my progress as I complete them.

Also, in my next ANS post, I will show you how I traced one of my birdy designs and made a quilting pattern out of the art.  Keep watching!

Feather Practice- Part 7

Today, I present the Feather Practice Series, Part 7.  This quilting feather handout shows you four different ways to feather an inset triangle space on a quilt top.  Any of these feathers, quilted in all the inset triangles on a quilt top, will flow visually from triangle to triangle.  It will also draw the eye around the quilt and provide some beautiful texture, too.

featherpracticehandout7 (pdf)  (Right click to download.  You will need a PDF reader)

Feather Practice 7.1 by Carla Barrett

Above are 4 different variations of my inset triangle feathers.  Below is the 2nd page, which is where you will practice drawing on:

Feather Practice handout by Carla Barrett

Note, too, that you can just feather the outer side of the spine for a different look.

quilting example by Carla Barrett

You may also decide to fill the blank space with curved cross-hatching or other fill, too, like I have drawn below:

feather example by Carla Barrett

Hope you are enjoying my Feather Practice Series!  I have enjoyed all the quilters who have taken the time to comment, contact me via email or tell me they are loving it.  I appreciate your kind words!  In case you missed an earlier Feather Practice, here are the links:

Feather Practice- Part 1,   Feather Practice- Part 2,  Feather Practice- Part 3,  Feather Practice- Part 4,  Feather Practice- Part 5, and  Feather Practice- Part 6

Have fun PPP- which means Practice, Practice, Practice!    Now go forth and feather!   Carla

Feather Practice- Part 6

Today, we will focus on circular feathers quilting design and how to neatly curl them into the spine.  Feathering a circular spine is a key skill for all quilters to master.  Plus, it looks wonderful quilted in a large blank area on a quilt top.

Feather Practice 6-1 (pdf)  (Right click to download, need Adobe Reader to view)

Feather practice 6.1 by Carla Barrett

This was how I created this motif shown above the chicken:

cartoon by Carla Barrett

Here are some quilts where I curled my feathers to showcase a quilt space:

Quilting by Carla Barrett, Piecing and design by Barb Kiehn

Look just outside the center of this guild opportunity quilt:

quilting by Carla Barrett

The outermost quilt texture is also circular feathers on this quilt:

quilting by Carla Barrett

Hope you have enjoyed this lesson on Circular Feathers- which is 6th in my Feather Practice Series.    Below are some links to previous Lessons:

Feather Practice- Part 1,   Feather Practice- Part 2,   Feather Practice- Part 3,         Feather Practice- Part 4,  and Feather Practice- Part 5.

As always, leave me a comment if you appreciate my free tutorials and handouts!  Happy quilting, Carla

Feather Practice, Part 5

This post is a fifth in my Feather Practice Series, and today, I share how I do my Asian-inspired feathers and spine variations.  These designs work great on Asian themed quilts, tropical quilts, and nature quilts and similar themed quilt top designs.

featherpractice5.pdf   (right click to download.  You will need Adobe Reader to view the file)

Feather Practice 5.1 by Carla Barrett

Feather Practice 5.2 by Carla Barrett

Print out and practice on 5-10 copies. Repetition is how you learn how to draw any feather type.   Practice drawing them and filling a variety of quilt spaces, too,

Freehand quilters: I suggest you mark until you can quilt this design by memory.  Now, when I quilt them free motion,   I will only mark the spine as a guideline.

I hope you are enjoying my Feather Practice Series.  If so, please leave me a comment.  My motivation for providing this free series is to provide assistance to any machine quilters who needs encouragement in their own personal quilting journey.   Happy Quilting, Carla Barrett

Feather Practice, Part 4

Thank you for the previous comments on this feather practice series.  We are now at the fourth in this feather practice series.

Today, I want to introduce a more traditional feather that I call an “Heirloom” feather.  These feathers are patterned after antique feathers that were hand quilted.   Other quilters call this feathers by other names- such as the “Hump & Bump” feather, too.  Heirloom sounds nicer to me and doesn’t invoke images of a pole dancer- LOL!

Here is the printable PDF file:

barrettfeatherpractice4.pdf  (right click to download)

Feather Practice 4.1 by Carla Barrett

Feather Practice 4.2 by Carla Barrett

Here is an example for how I did Feather Practice 4.2.  Remember, too, that you can print it out for tracing purposes, too:

Worksheet example by Carla Barrett

Feel free to send me examples of your Feather Practice sheets and I will do a follow-up post showing off all of your wonderful work. Valérie from France sent me her echo feathers examples and they were excellent!

Feather Video:  Because the order of drawing and quilting feathers can easily trip up a machine quilter, I will post a video that I shared last year in another blog post.  I show you how I draw several feathers, including an Heirloom feather:

This concludes Feather Practice 4.  In case you wanted to easily view an earlier Feather Practice, just click on the desired link:

Feather Practice, Part 1  

Feather Practice, Part 2

Feather Practice, Part 3

Have fun with the above handouts!  Regards, Carla Barrett

Feather Practice, Part 2

Today is Part 2 of my Feather Practice series.  I want to encourage all machine quilters, both sit down quilters and stand up ones, to not be feather phobic.  If intimidated with feathers, the echo-feather is the most forgiving feather to quilt out and draw.   This type of feather gives the quilt a whimsical feeling.

I have also included a .PDF file of my practice handouts, which are intended to be printed out and traced or drawn on.  My theory is that by practicing over and over, you will learn to draw feathers.  If you learn to draw feathers, you can mark your quilt and quilt the design by quilting over the markings.

Here is my PDF:  barrettfeatherpractice2  (right click to save as or print out)

Feather Practice 2.1 by Carla Barrett

Feather Practice 2.2 by Carla Barrett

Directions: Print out 5-10 handouts to trace and draw over the designs.  Practice where indicated.  Once you have mastered the drawing, mark the design on fabric and quilt right over the marking lines.  Remove the marking lines and assess your mastery.

Carla Tip:  Practice new designs on a white board.  When I was a new quilter, I used to do this at night while watching TV.

Would love to hear your feedback from my Feather Practice series.  Regards, Carla Barrett

Feather Practice

I thought I would share a few of my feather quilting practice for anyone needing to learn or improve their feather skills.  I am starting with my freehand feather handout #1 (pdf), shown here:

barrettfeatherpractice1  (right click to download this pdf file)

practice sheet 1 by Carla Barrett

Directions: Print out 5-10 copies of the handout, and trace over all gray lines.  Next practice in the spaces provided.  This practice sheet covers drawing a freehand feather, feathering a simple spine, a curved spine, filling a space with feathers, and turning a corner while feathering.

This is a first post in a series for improving feather technique.  If you like it, and want to encourage me to write more, please leave a message below.  Thanks, Carla Barrett

Catch Up! And Other Things…

I am pleased to announce that the first online Tablet Design Class was a huge success!  Wait until you see the fantastic homework that was turned in by the students- Wow!!  But, that is a future  post, so I will make you wait.  Here are a  few Creative Exercise samples I drew for the class:

A colored wholecloth quilting design:

A quilting design repeat:

Using colored images to help choose quilt design colors:

Practicing quilting fills:

This is just a sneak peek of a few exercises in the class.  All-in-all, I think I shot and edited over 35 videos for this class!  By the way, the next time I teach it will be in the Fall, 2012.  Post a comment to get on my class interest list.

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Freeform Beaded Necklace-  The long awaited blog prize is almost ready to ship to the lucky recipient!!  This turned out very cool, I now need to make a second one for my own portfolio.

Want to see?

OK, here is the finished view of this freeform beaded necklace.  I named it, “Waves of Color:”

Any comments on this latest freeform beaded design?

More to come!  Now that class is over, my creative spirit is unleased!

Hugs, Carla