ArleneWalsh

Hi all
I am new to this group and am needing suggestions on how to arrange the pieces in the quilt I am making. It is a quilt of 12 squares, each square consisting of 4 small squares. These are to be constructed using rectangular 'logs', arranged 3 vertically, 3 horizontally, etc.

Should I aim to have the same sequence of colours in all 12 larger squares, or should I just arrange the 'logs' randomnly, in terms of colour?

toverly

That's your preference. It helps to have a design wall or an open floor to see which way you like better. I like scrappy, randomly placed but, you may prefer organized pattern.

Barb in Louisiana

I am an organized person with color. Scrappy, randomly placed just doesn't work for me. Search for Rail Fence quilts and you will see different kinds of layouts with color. The pictures help me a lot to define my color style. https://www.bing.com/search?q=Rail+f...&ghacc=0&ghpl=

Since all of your sub blocks will be 6.5 inches square before sewing them into the larger 12.5 unfinished blocks, I would not sew them into 12.5 inch blocks. That will give you a lot more design freedom by placing them how you think you want them and moving them if they don't work for your design style. After you decide how you want the overall look, then make your 12.5 inch blocks. Hope I haven't confused you.

ArleneWalsh

Thanks. I have sketched out the 'shape' and am playing with ideas for the arrangement of the pieces. Will lay them out on a carpet to get the full effect, and if necessary, re-organise prior to stitching.

Rebaquilts

Welcome to the board also! EQ8 Electric Quilt software is also a cool way to play with block placement. Congrats on making this fun quilt!

Quiltwoman44

gaming- NOT!! we are quilters only!

SueZQ from MN

Yes we share a common interest in quilting, but we are gardeners, chefs, office workers, teachers, professionals, and full time parents and grandparents that have a variety of interests and participate in a number of hobbies and skills besides quilting.

Evalyra3

Absolutely, I'd be happy to help! Choosing the right color arrangement can make a significant difference in your designs. Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Start with a Color Wheel: Familiarize yourself with the color wheel. It's a tool that shows how colors relate to each other. Complementary colors (opposite on the wheel) create contrast, while analogous colors (next to each other) offer a harmonious blend.
   
2. Limit Your Palette: Especially as a beginner, it's a good idea to start with a limited color palette, maybe 2-3 main colors. This will keep your design clean and cohesive.
   
3. Consider Color Meanings: Different colors evoke different emotions. For instance, blue can convey calmness, while red can evoke energy or passion. Think about the mood you want your design to convey.
   
4. Balance Warm and Cool Colors: Mixing warm colors (like red, orange, and yellow) with cool colors (like blue, green, and purple) can create visual interest and balance.
   
5. Use Online Tools: There are various online color palette generators that can help you find complementary or analogous colors. Adobe Color and Coolors.co are popular choices.
   
6. Study Successful Designs: Analyze designs you admire. See how they've used color and try to understand why it works.
   
7. Test Accessibility: If your design is for a website, ensure that the color combination is accessible to users with visual impairments. Online tools can help you check the contrast ratio.
   
8. Experiment: Don't be afraid to experiment with different color combinations. Sometimes, the best way to learn is through trial and error.
   

Remember, practice makes perfect. Over time, you'll develop an intuitive sense of what colors work well together. Good luck, and feel free to ask if you have any more questions!

Iceblossom

Welcome to the boards! I've just recently come back after a moving hiatus.

I find the my queen sized bed is my largest work surface and I am able to move around it easier than getting up and down from the floor... can be challenging on a queen sized quilt but is usually great for smaller projects. I didn't have the floor space anyway to layout a large quilt without a whole lot of moving things around.

There are infinite ways to arrange fabric: random, alternating light/dark, diagonally, stripes whether vertical or horizontal, darker (or lighter) on the outside and then the center the opposite,or just color grading top to bottom... plus for some of us OCD types with a lot of different fabrics whether duplicates/multiples are "too close" or not... (what "too close" means is a personal decision and no matter what I think at the time, something usually ends up too close anyway)

In my years of scrap quilting I find that if I go for "that works" I can achieve it better than striving for perfection. Perfection can be achieved but for me it comes at a cost of lots of time and cost and fabric and it usually isn't that much better than "that works".

While I'm piecing the blocks I often get an idea of what effect I want to achieve. Other times I am at a complete loss so I come here and post pictures of alternate layouts! What I do is give myself a time limit like 30 minutes to 2 hours to play around until I have something I think I'm pleased with, then I shut the door and do other things for half an hour. After the break I then open the door and see if anything jumps out at me as being "wrong". I find that if I try moving things at this point I often create more problems than I solve and often end up back to where I began. Sometimes though something will jump out at me and it is well worth the rearranging. Again, I set myself a time limit because otherwise (for me at least) there is no end to the fiddling and what ifs.

Then I mark each block with a paper number and safety pin. No matter how careful I try to be if I don't have the number in the top left corner I always end up joining some of the blocks wrong.

These two quilts were made from the same projects. In the larger "Mayflower" design they were roughly light/dark. In the smaller "Broken Dishes" scraps used from the Mayflower blocks were diagonally color sorted. Exact same fabrics, very different looks.