Inspiration hits in many ways. Sometimes I know what the final product I want and look for fabrics to make it, but more often I am taken by a fabric or a collection of fabrics and let them speak to me. For example, as I've been organizing my fabric I've pulled my Civil War fabrics into their own collection. Part of that is a large number of 10" swapping squares so I've had to select a block and technique that will let me use assorted fabric that small. I believe I've chosen a block and an all-random scrap style that will work well with period/theme/fabric size even if it is a bit chaotic for my tastes.
Sometimes I am learning new techniques or otherwise challenging myself in some way. And speaking of chaotic, my recent Wonky Bright project has been all about that from the first moment I saw the bag of scraps at the Goodwill and thought to myself "oh my, what a collection of fabric I would never get but somehow I see it all works together".
Other days, well I just like having a project to work on so I sew... It's not quite a joke when I say most of my quilting is planned ahead for the next 5-10 years. If I don't have an actual project box started, I have concepts in my mind like I know I want to do some stuff with 3D effects in the near future -- not quite sure what I will do but I want to have some fun with it.
My family teases me about going into "quilt world" when I enter the design process. It can be quick or it can last for a couple of weeks of musing and playing with concepts. Sometimes I bring out fabric into the living room and put it on the couch for "auditions". I have pads of graph paper, stacks of magazines by the bed, and Electric Quilt on the computer. Even if I'm basing my design on something published, I typically draft it out myself because it helps me understand how to put the block together better and typically there is something I want to do differently anyway whether it is scale or construction method.
Sometimes I just play with quilt or block designs just to play with them. It's like puzzles for me.
Because of how I work with scraps and collections it may take quite a bit of collection/planning time before I'm ready to cut or sew -- years even. I will start a project box for the fabric first, along with a few notes or EQ block/quilt diagrams or magazine or other source material. I do write notes to myself and throughout the process I will make charts of cutting instructions or whatever that I stick up to the bulletin board. I do not start cutting until I've collected all of my fabrics (or at least know what my minimum size requirement is), and I prefer to do all of one stage at a time throughout the process. Consistency is key to me, and if I make a mistake well at least I have a consistent fix to do.
Right now I'm sort of in-between projects. I have several planned and collected and ready to make, but not feeling like proceeding on those but I don't want to start any new ones either. So I'm going to do a couple quick and easy donation baby tops to keep on sewing! Both of those ideas came from pictures posted on this board which is becoming another part of my design process
