Do you have an idea for a quilt and not sure where to start to create your own quilt design? We’ve got you covered! There are many ways to approach designing a quilt. We’ll show you some different ways to creating your own quilt designs in this article.
First step to becoming a quilt designer is to decide whether you are open to using or learning new technology, or are you more of a paper and drawing by hand kind of person.
Using technology to design a quilt may take a learning curve, and be intimidating to some folks. Once you learn it, it makes it so easy. But, there is something to just doodling with a piece of paper and doing some coloring to design your quilt.
In this article we’ll cover ways to create the basic design from scratch or use traditional quilt blocks to plan the layout according to the size of the finished quilt.
Before you start making your own quilt designs, it’s a good idea to have a good understanding of the basic techniques of quilting.
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Let’s start designing a quilt with the old fashioned way of paper and pen.
Design a quilt with paper and pen
For years, quilters have used a ruler and graph paper to design their quilts. And, if you don’t have graph paper, drawing a grid on paper works great, too!
Find your favorite pen or pencil and to begin to plan a quilt. Pull out your colored pencils or markers and color in the pieces. It’s meditative and relaxing.
C&T has made it easier with their new QuiltGenius Design Tool Kit. It comes with stencils, graph paper and a guide book to help design your next quilt.
The stencils are the right size for their graph paper. No more trying to draw a half square triangle or square in a square – line up the stencil and draw!
How to use graph paper to design a quilt
Learn how to design your own quilt patterns by using graph paper with these step-by-step directions.
The first time you design your own pattern may seem like a lot of work. Once you do one or two, you'll be hooked and love creating your original designs!
The design process will give you unlimited ideas and unique ideas for your quilts! Enjoy the creative process!
Materials
- Graph paper or dot grid paper, OPTIONAL: C&T Quilt Design Kit
- Fabric to make your quilt
- Thread
Tools
- Colored pencils or pens
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Sewing machine
- Iron
- Pressing surface
- Rotary cutter
- Cutting mat
- Quilters ruler
Instructions
- Start by getting ideas for quilt blocks that can be used in your quilt design. It's interesting to combine two (2) or more quilt blocks into a quilt. You can browse the web, Pinterest, look through quilt books or use cards, like these from C&T to find some ideas and quilt blocks you like. Browse through the quilt blocks patterns on Create Whimsy.
- When selecting quilt blocks to go together for your quilt design, it's important that the finished sizes are the same size, or can be combined to be the same size. Example: 8-inch finished block can be combined with two (2) 4-inch finished blocks. Here is another combination I thought might work together. See how when the blocks are placed side-by-side some of the light areas match up. They could be very interesting in a finished quilt.
- And, here is another option I considered using the design cards. I really like the way the two blocks come together to create movement.
- For this tutorial, I decided on the churn dash and variation on the nine patch to show that even simple quilt blocks can make a great quilt. Now I'm ready to begin drawing my design on the graph paper. I wanted to try the new templates that help with the shapes.
- Here I'm in progress with designing a nine patch quilt with five (5) churn dash quilt blocks and four (4) nine patch quilt blocks.
- My quilt design is done. I need to buy or find my good eraser! 🙂
- Next, I like to make several photocopies of my design to play with color combinations. This way, my original drawing stays good and I can use it again and again. I pulled out my colored pencils and some pens to play and color.
- Have fun with different colors! Here are three colored designs that I did. Things to consider when selecting colors is to have a variety of values. Some dark, some light, and some mid-range. This will make your quilt more interesting.
- I decided on the pink and green design. I made small lines so that It was easier for me to see where each quilt block was on the graph paper. Added a color key to the right and started the details of what I'll need to cut out to make the blocks.
- Next, I needed to decide how big to make the blocks. I decided on a 16-inch finished block size. So, each square on the graph paper is equal to a 4-inch finished quilt block.
You'll need to figure out your fabric requirements. You can see my bad handwriting on the right with what I'll need to cut from each of my fabrics. For a finished 4-inch quilt block, you'll need to add 1/2-inch for the seam allowances. We'll sew the blocks together with a 1/4-inch seam allowance.
- As I was pulling fabrics from my stash, I changed my mind. That's one of the things I love about creating my own quilts - I can change my mind anytime along the way! Fabric selection is one of the fun parts of bringing your design idea to life!
I didn't like any of the pale pinks I had but I loved the lavender fabric to be my pale. Here are my fabrics cut for all of the quilt blocks, ready to sew together.
- Next, I made the half-square triangles (HSTs) for the churn dash quilt block. Find the full instructions for how to make the churn dash quilt block.
- Here are the pieces laid out and ready to sew together to make the churn dash quilt block.
- And the finished churn dash blocks.
- Next, I made the variation on the nine patch quilt block. Find the full instructions for the nine patch quilt block. Here are the pieces laid out ready to sew together.
- And, here are the variations on the nine patch all sewn together.
- I laid out all of the blocks on my quilt design wall.
- And, then sewed them together. I really like the way these two simple blocks came together to create my own quilt design. Here is my finished quilt top.
Recommended Products
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QuiltGenius Design Tool Kit: Stencils, Graph Paper & Booklet to Unleash Your Creativity; Easily Draft Quilts & Blocks; (1) 8” x 10” Stencil, (4) 4” x ... 60 Sheets of Graph Paper, 3 Grid Styles -
Quilt Builder Card Deck Set #3: 40 More Blocks, 8 Inspiring Layouts, Infinite Possibilities (Quick & Easy Block Tool, 3) -
Quilt Builder Card Deck Set #2: 40 New Blocks, 8 New Layouts, Unlimited Possibilities -
Quilt Builder Card Deck: 40 Block, 6 Layouts, Endless Possibilities
Using software to design a quilt
If you are open to technology, there are a variety of options for designing a quilt. Many quilters use Adobe Illustrator to design their quilts. There is a less expensive alternative, Affinity Designer, that does almost everything that Adobe Illustrator does for a one-time fee. Adobe Illustration requires annual payments. Both of these programs have more than you need to design a quilt, as they are used by graphic designers for all sorts of tasks.
Electric Quilt 8 is a software program that’s only purpose is to design quilts. Electric quilt software is preloaded with a lot of popular and traditional quilt blocks ready for you to add to your worktable and begin selecting colors and fabrics. And, you can design your own blocks, too. Upload your fabrics to see exactly what your quilt will look like before you start. It’s very affordable and available for both Macs and desktop computers.
The advantage to using Electric Quilt is there is no quilt math! Design your quilt and then export it. It will give you the right-size pattern!
Finding inspiration for your quilt design
Inspiration can be found anywhere. Ideas for your quilt design can include:
- Take a traditional quilt pattern and try different color combinations. By changing the colors you can change the look of a quilt.
- Have a favorte quilt block? Start with it and build off it it with sashing, borders, make it different sizes and put them together for a quilt.
- Play with two or more traditional quilt blocks to create a new design. You can take quilt blocks that are the same finished size and combine them to see what secondary designs appear. This is what I did above, by making them alternate blocks and creating a new design.
- Begin with a simple drawing right on the gridded paper or in your preferred computer program. Can you then piece those blocks?
- Look at some of your favorite pictures. What are the main lines in the picture? Can you draw those lines on the grid paper or in a computer program and then recreate it into a quilt?
- Love modern quilts? Take some basic quilt blocks and bold, bright colors to create your own design.
- Minimalist at heart? Try it out on the grid paper or on a computer program first!
Tips and ideas for creating your own quilt design
- Have a design board or wall. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. You can hang a flannel sheet or piece of batting on a wall or door, or cover a piece of insulation or foam core. You’ll want to be able to put up your quilt blocks and fabric and look at them as your overall design is coming together.
- Once you come up with your design, you need to figure out how much fabric you’ll need. If this seems way out of your comfort zone, visit your local quilt shop – they can help you. It’s pretty easy if you are comforable with numbers. You’ve got the finished size of your pieces. Add your seam allowance and figure out how many of each you’ll need. Fabric is 40-inches wide. How many can you cut on a width?
- If you don’t need much of a fabric, consider purchasing or using fat quarters.
Browse through more quilt tutorials on Create Whimsy.
See our article on how to choose fabric for a quilt.
