Triggering Your Next Design

It's a well know fact that if you can't think of a thing to make, you should pull out your bag of fused fabric scraps. Somewhere in that bag is a design trigger. Here you see my design trigger or inspiration for my next quilt design. It is the negative of a piece of fabric cut with an Accuquilt die cutter. This particular die yields 25 dots measuring 3/4" and a great holey negative.

It's hard to create work when you are staring down a rectangle of color. But give me a fabric that has an odd shape and imagination takes over. Free-cutting a fabric that already has a shape gives you the freedom to play and improvise.

At some point you let the fabric shapes from your scrap bag take over and tell you what you are making. No need to pre-design anything or constrict yourself in anyway. Let the fabric shapes do the work. Here's one of the first pieces I made as Artist in Residence at Art Quilt Tahoe.

Jane Dunnewold, Jane's mom, Sue Cavanaugh, Valerie Goodwin, Sue Benner, me, Libby Lehman, Velda Newman, and Rosalie Dace.

And here is my reward, an evening meal with faculty members. There are cheerful stories and friendly chat and maybe a bawdy joke or two. I'll never tell!