Thread: design gurus, scrap masters, geniuses at large - help!

i made a lone star earlier this year and boy did i make a mess!

the lone star is gorgeous and flat and all, but it was a gift. due to the grave errors committed in its making, a tremendous amount of fabric was left over.

i am going to hand quilt a large part of the lone star quilt, but in the mean time i really wanted to give the recipient a quilt that used up some of the fabric i couldn't use for her lone star quilt.

so i started with this, a free pattern from connecting threads. i figured it would make a great "header" and is the right width (60 inches) and is 24" long:


the colours aren't great in these images, but in real life the palette is pretty wonderful; all rich blues and purples. the embroidery thread i used is blue and purple, and really pops on the black.

the drawing i made isn't working. i need some design help.

to make a quilt the right size, i now have a 60" x 60" area to piece.

i have these two blocks which i can easily turn into 2 x 20" squares:



i have these uncut pieces, which are all about 1/5 a meter, plus three extra reverse applique squares. i could make more, but this is what i have right now:



and i have about 50 of these lone star strip sets, with an average length of about 18" and then four already pieced strips about 55":

you can see the full width strips. and finally, i have these two diamonds and a number of finicky little bits and bobs of the beyer trim piece:

the goal is a quick and easy contemporary design that i can turn around in a reasonable time frame for a good friend who bought a lot of fabric for my learning curve.

i figure i essentially have a nine patch quilt with 9 - 20" x 20" squares to piece with a whole lot of strips. i can buy more black fabric, because i really ate into the 2.5 meters i already bought...

what do you guys think? taking all comers and thoughts.

also, pictures seem to present a posting issue for me. sorry!

thank you. so much!

aileen

Yummy colors and you have some great goodies to work with to make something gorgeous. (If you want to hop a plane to Santiago Chile and bring them along we could have a great time with these and have one artistic piece when we got done!)

Failing that option--- Design walls sure help with this kind of thing or using painter's tape with the blocks on an empty wall could help. Otherwise throw it all on the floor and stand on a chair and see what seems to look good to you. I am always surprised at the ideas that come up with these methods.

Good luck and post the photos when you get done.

From what I can tell, you have all of the elements needed to make a "modern" quilt. Go to Google Images or Flickr and type "modern quilt" or "modern baby quilt" into the search slot - I'm sure you'll find some wonderful inspirations that use elements you already have.