New quilt in progress...

Sunset - not sure of the name yet!

This is my progress after a couple of days.... I don't work steadily so maybe I worked 8-10 hours total?  I can show you the steps I've taken so far though.  :)

After finding inspiration, I mapped out a plan on graph paper. This helps me figure out how many inches/strips of water I need to create, or where the sun should be and how many inches of quilt top it should take up.  (And where it should go - not in the center!)

The other thing I take into account is this question, "Am I going to show this quilt?"  If yes, than I need to make sure I make it within size requirements of various quilt shows. The quilt needs to be over 40 inches wide, less than 60 inches wide and at least 30 high. Using graph paper helps me set up the right size quilt.

My pattern on graph paper

You can see my inspirational photograph along with piles of fabric...

So, once I figure out my design, I start pulling fabrics from my stash and piling them on a table. When in doubt, I pull a fabric.  When I'm caught in design throes, lol, I don't want to take the time to search for another yellow, or blue or purple... 

Pile of potential fabrics

After I pull out fabrics, I sort them by value. Light to dark...

I have a few fabrics which I think will be really really easy to work with - these varigated prints!

Here are my piles in order of value

Once I have everything organized, I  start cutting up strips and arranging them. For me, the hardest part is usually the very beginning. I just used one of the variegated prints to be the water at this point, it helped me work on the sunset above it. 

Progress continues...

And continues...

Sky is done, at least for now.

I plow ahead on one element at a time until the design is done and I call it my rough draft.  As I finalize things, I'll rearrange strips, or decide if something doesn't work. For example, though I really LOVE that dark red strip in with the purples on the lower right, is it too much?  I'll have to keep an eye on it...


And here is what the water will probably look like.  Now I have to work on the ground.  But before that, I need to go to the grocery store, the gym and I'll need a shower. In fact I might not get to the ground until tomorrow afternoon because I have even more errands to run. Ugh.

I'm kind of excited to see this quilt come to life! Do you think those white strips are too much in the sun?  They sure make things glow... Hmm.

That's all folks! 

As always, comments are welcome.