That's why I like to buy kits. The fabric is usually coordinated and the pattern is included. I am basically a beginner so I don't want anything that is too confusing. I bought a "raggy rail" kit last week and am so excited that it is almost done and it looks pretty good!!! :) I envy the beautiful quilts I saw this week end at the Sisters Quilt show in Oregon but, am not ready to tackle a huge project.

That's why I like to buy kits. The fabric is usually coordinated and the pattern is included. I am basically a beginner so I don't want anything that is too confusing. I bought a "raggy rail" kit last week and am so excited that it is almost done and it looks pretty good!!! :) I envy the beautiful quilts I saw this week end at the Sisters Quilt show in Oregon but, am not ready to tackle a huge project.

I'm with you....I've stopped buying books and patterns because I don't end up following them. I now work out patterns on graph paper that I figure out from a picture. I can't even tell anyone how much fabric I use for a quilt because most of mine are scrappy so yardage isn't an issue.

Most of the time I start with an idea and then go from there. Sometimes the idea comes from a picture of a finished quilt, a single block, or a pattern.

Honestly, I have never started with a pattern and finished the quilt using that pattern. Somewhere in the quilt pattern I decide I would rather do something else than what the directions say and off I go.

So...If you don't want to use a pattern, you don't have to, except if you are taking a class. They typically want everyone to do the same thing.

Classes are great. If you haven't taken a quilt class, you might like to think about trying one just to get into reading and using patterns.

I have never used a pattern. Mostly I just wing it. I don't understand most of the directions anyway. By not fallowing a pattern, I just have to guess at the yardage. So I tend to over buy fabric, which is fine by me. I'm not having any problems using up the leftovers.

I prefer a pattern. It just works well for me. If I want to design a quilt I do it on EQ 6 and there is a pattern for me.

Are you talking about the shapes and order of the pattern pieces or the colors that are used in a sample? I have to follow the pattern to make sure that my star doesn't end up looking like a wedge cutter, but I pick my own colors. Sometimes I change size and layout too - sometimes I follow the rules. It all depends.

It all frustrated me to be honest! I have tried to pick my own fabrics, and then I can't decide what I want to use for which, and therefore I am still standing there like a dumb-dumb not being able to figure out how much I need of which :) So, I pick what I like, and see what happens! I made a Turning Twenty that I really liked (oops, I didn't buy the pattern, just figured it out from the pic!) and and tube quilt, and d9p, and a few simpler designs, and they mostly turn out how they are supposed to! Glad I'm not the only one pattern challenged!

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

LOL----I just bought a pattern for a woven-look quilt that is made from either 48 or 56 log cabin blocks, no two alike. Cool looking quilt but do I have the patience to do THAT perfectly?????? Um.....not quite! So my next challenge is to figure out an easier way to piece it.