I just can't seem to be able to make a quilt working with a pattern. Everytime I try I wind up putting it away and forgetting about it. I can sit down and throw a quilt top together on my own with no problem. Does anybody else have this problem?

I am only a new quilter but already I am more excited by what I can design myself rather than following someone else design, then I can say it is truly original!
I also like the old traditional patterns and incorporate bits of those old favourites sometimes too! If I cannot see at a glance how it all comes together then I don't chose it as it will probably mean it is too difficult for me! I have so much to learn but I have no illusions, my quilts will never reach a show, they are only for family and friends!
I must admit though that the more I get into making quilts the easier the patterns have become to read so who knows what I shall be making in the future! Lol

Gal

This is how I am with crocheting, I can go either way with quilting. I am bad (but in a good way) about looking at a quilt and then finding out I can't get a pattern for it in the size I want so I figure it out on my own!

Me to :thumbup: I don't know why I struggle with patterns , but I do :oops: Even the basic blocks from Quilterscache stump me :roll: LOL

Isn't that funny...I'm usually better off with a pattern. I have created my own tablerunners but never a full sized quilt. When I create my own pattern, I tend to overthink it, and drive myself crazy. Maybe that is why I am drawn to patterns.

I prefer to wing it, too :D:D:D

Must be wonderful to work without a pattern. I'm not creative at all. :cry:

I am with you with that. I need the pattern but my creativity comes in designing the colors and/or patterns that I used for it. I rarely use the colors they give because they just don't "talk" to me. so, yeah for patterns and yeah for a color quilting ability!

It depends on the pattern. Some are written very well (like Atkinson Designs patterns), and some assume you know what to do and miss some of the details. One of the freebies I was looking at on a fabric company's website was so confusing, I didn't bother to keep a copy. I am easily distracted and I don't do many complicated ones because I'd screw them up. Someday, I hope to have a little more time to myself to tackle a few of those. Probably almost half of the quilts I make are my own pattern or a combination of others I've done in the past.

when you're trying to follow a pattern, you're trying to force your brain and hands to work like the author's do. sometimes that can be like trying to smoosh a square peg into a triangular hole.

if the directions don't make sense, then focus on the block diagrams. make copies. cut them apart to make puzzles. then using your fabric patches, "put them back together".

lather, rinse, and repeat that process with the layout diagram.