Shall we make a pattern? Many quilters either pick a pattern and get the fabric to make it, or have fabric and then pick a pattern that matches the amount of fabric they have. So, I’m the quilter who just wants to make up my quilt based on the fabric I have. When I pick fabrics, I start to design a pattern in my mind. I have a hard time sticking with a pattern from a quilting book. Of the four quilts I’ve made, I designed three and modified the other. With my paisley quilt, I didn’t even try to find a pattern that would work. I’ve realized that, when it comes to quilting, I just need to design my own quilts and do my own thing. After a few quilts, I decided to try a more complex pattern, but not one too crazy.

For Passionate Paisley, I decided I wanted to showcase the fabric, so I chose to do squares. One thing you have to decide is whether you want your fabric to be the focus of your quilt, or if it’s all about the pattern.

While making my quilt blocks, especially the nine-patch squares, I had to keep seam allowance in mind. This means a quarter inch is taken off each edge for the seam on every piece of fabric. That was the most difficult part of the design process because of the math.

I learned when making my featured quilt, Passionate Paisley, sometimes you just have to make do with what you have. Don’t let it frustrate you into quitting, be flexible. The fabric for my backing wasn’t quite long enough, so I added a strip of another fabric to make it big enough. Now it’s one of my favorite parts of the quilt. Making your own design is satisfying, you should try it!

Quilt facts:

The binding is corduroy, which adds just a little fun.
There are thirteen different fabrics in the quilt.
It’s made up of more than five unique blocks.