ArchaicArcane

Well, sitting down to mock this up, I figured one thing out... blocks of 2" each would sure make this a no brainer as far as the layout, especially if one were quilting the "grout".

I had just sat down to see what it looked like in a larger scale than my bathroom counter, and thought "both are divisible by 2... " I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't figure that out sooner. Each of the tiles are either 4" or 6".

Now, I think unless I can randomize the pattern more, I like it better in a small scale.

Here are the 3 versions I've managed to come up with:

Light:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]436281[/ATTACH]

Dark:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]436282[/ATTACH]

The original, as 10" square blocks and twisted:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]436283[/ATTACH]

Any thoughts on how to make this back into a design I'd want to use 13 yards of fabric for would be welcome.

Reb

I like the last one but thinking of your bathroom counter, I'm not sure I like the secondary pattern that comes up. The other two remind me of the pattern "Falling Charms", which is not what I think you were going for. Which one do you like yourself? I can't tell from your comment if you were joking that you are really looking for a completely different pattern. One you would be so inspired by that you would even use up'15' yards of fabric. ( I do realize you do not actually mean to make a quilt as big as to actually require 15 yards"

ArchaicArcane

I like the last one too, I didn't at first, but it has some motion to it, and it's not as visually symmetrical. I'm convinced that's a huge part of the reason that the piecing part of quilting hasn't really grabbed me. So many of the quilt patterns I see are too repetitious and symmetrical to my eye. I guess I'm naturally a "modern" quilter.

I think I might have been too literal with the design. The form is there. It's a perfect replica of the design used on the counter, but I think in a quilt, it would be just "blah". I could change the colors to add a third "block" to the mix, like the original block had, but I just don't know if that will fix the look? Any thoughts?

I've mocked up 3 quilts in EQ so far - A Labyrinth, Josephine's knot, and this one. I was sure the first one was wrong, but they all end up calling for around 13 yards of fabric! I was stunned!

A queen bed, with a 10" overhang in 3 directions makes an 80" x 92" quilt.
I just went and did the measurement a couple of minutes ago, I estimated last night while playing with EQ.

This EQ quilt is slightly mis-proportioned at 88x88, but would still fit the bed. EQ reports that for the first quilt above I need: 3 1/2 yards of fabric 1, 5 5/8 yards of fabric 2, and 2 1/8 yards of fabric 3 which comes in at 11 1/4 yards.

Josephine came in at 13 1/8 yards at 87 x 108" - yeah, I'll have to re-size that one after measuring the bed.

The Labyrinth (92 x 92) came in at 12 5/8 yards.

This is all based on 42" wide fabric.

80" x 92" = 2.25 yards x 2.55 yards = 5.75 yards
even if I add 50% (roughly 3 yards ) for errors and seams and waste, that's way less than the 11.25 yards that EQ is estimating...

I have to be missing something.

Reb

Robert Kaufman's QuiltCalc for ipad gets 8.23 yards for backing. That is an 80 x 90 plus the 6 inch extra for shrinkage when quilted. Figure the top is the same - 16.5 yards. It sounds crazy to me but I've never made anything bigger than a lap quilt. Maybe someone else on the board can shed some light on this. Oh, I have a quilt pattern handy, 81.5 by 97.5 yep 13 yards for the top. 7/8 ths for binding and 6.5 yrds for backing. Now that happens to be for a pretty complex design which requires a wide variety of fabrics and shapes, so there would be more waste but even still. Other threads on the board have been discussing how surprised non-quilters are when told how much they are charging for their quilts. Well this quilter is surprised at the amount of fabric alone. Those selling bed size quilts probably aren't getting enough $ for them to make anything. You still have to quilt it and figure in some kind of payment for your time. Now I know why, many years ago I paid almost 1,000 for an Amish applique long queen. I bought it because I knew it was never anything I would make for myself. (and we had the $ at the time).

Reb

About the design. Repetition in block after block makes me bored with the project after awhile. That's why I've decided to work on smaller projects than lap sized quilts. Mostly wallhangings. I can be more creative with those too. Sounds like maybe we are similar with that. There are beautiful quilts out there and I can appreciate all that goes into them, but it isn't in me to make a queen sized quilt.

Reb

I keep forgeting to thank you for wokng up the numbers on the cost of thread. Makes me feel better about my switching from mettler to aurifil.

ArchaicArcane

I think I've figured out part of the reason for the huge numbers: The long borders. They want you to cut all in one strip, right? So that means that for any border, you'll have yardage requirements of around 3yards. This will create a lot of "waste" or stash I guess, depending on how you look at it. 5 5/8 yards still seems like a lot even for the "main fabric" in the quilt though.

I know my cousin was shocked when I asked her about the yardage. I'm going to compare what EQ said to her Labyrinth quilt pattern tomorrow when I see her, which is the main reason I mocked it up. I wanted to see how accurate EQ is.

I did a quick cost calculation for the quilt:
13 yards at roughly $10/yd = $130
90" wide batting at $15/yd = $45
Backing of some sort, guestimated based on a poke around online = $50
Thread - almost negligible, but still worth calculating, especially if I quilt the grout = $15

So $240+ taxes without figuring time, travel, tears and temper tantrums... I feel like I really have to like the quilt pattern to take it on.

My cousin said a Josephine's Knot takes her 12 hours from start to finish. I think I could quilt it in about 4-6 hours on a good day. There's the time spent picking the fabrics out. Auditioning them, then deciding one color's not quite right... Assume at -least- 20 hours into it.

What's your time worth? Selling the JK mentioned above for $500 would be $12.40 an hour. I'd say you paid fair market price for an amish quilt, might even have gotten a deal with the applique.

That said, I'm pretty tired of our plain black duvet cover, I need something to go with the wood bed frame, so I will definitely take on a queen of some sort, so I can say "Yes, I've done it" possibly followed with "No, I wouldn't do it again", who knows.

I remember when I finished the lap quilt I did. The ladies in our sewing circle laughed at me when I said I thought I might not do anything that big again. That repetition is probably what pushes me toward the modern quilts, and to the things like the Labyrinths, the whole cloth, whitework, even the Hawaiian pineapple quilts, etc. Yes, there's repetition, but the design on a whole is less repetitive.

Oh! my pleasure! I'm glad it helped you out! I was really shocked when I realized how expensive Mettler and Gutermann really are. Better thread, no guilt. Does it get any better?

Reb

Thinking yet again about your design, third rendition. This may look quite different if you quilt the grout or use narrow sashing. Does EQ do an overlay of the quilting?

ArchaicArcane

I'm reasonably sure that EQ can do an overlay. All I can find is a block sized one, and not anything "freehand", but I'm 98% sure that's my deficiency at the moment, not that of the software. Baby steps. I finally figured out how the custom layout worked last night.

I'm going to try a little more tomorrow to see if I can figure out how to do the "grout". The sashing ended up highlighting the "block" and less of the design, if that makes any sense? A blue motif could be interesting here instead of the browns too.

It also looks a lot less busy if I take up some space with borders - I'm not too crazy about that "yellow", but I'm not positive which way I want to change it):
[ATTACH=CONFIG]436654[/ATTACH]

I wonder if this one might be nicer as a lap quilt for now. I can save the blues and such for the bedroom to offset the wood. This one could offset the sage couches...

BTW: I was at my cousin's today. (She wore me right out!) Her Labyrinth pattern says about 12 yards. I'd say that EQ is accurate enough anyway. I also have 2 photos of a block she wants to figure out how to piece. I thought I'd see if EQ would help. It all helps me get to know the software so I can use it to plan.

Reb

Adding more color, especially blue, would be really pretty for the BR with wood. This probably would be better as a lap quilt being all the colors of tile. Better for you to accomplish and still get the queen you want done. There's always the choice of ditching the idea and changing it enough to fit what you want for your queen. You would still have designed it yourself with the inspiration from your tile. But, just a new thought, what about using batiks in the lap quilt, maybe not "warm" enough. But it might give it more texture. Maybe make the "tile" appear as marble. Not sure how it would quilt for the grout. Sounds like you may need to work up some samples. I've heard that EQ has a pretty steep learning curve but is really a robust program. Maybe it's a blessing it isn't written for mac. LOL. Good luck with your cousin's projects. Yeah, you get more time to play!!!!