Playing with Pattern Graphics!
Yesterday was a day off from the computer, but I’m back at it again to create a block for my Skyfall Block of the Month.
If you remember, Skyfall was my competition quilt a few years ago, and it did quite well at quilts shows around the country. It was even featured in a three-page spread in Quilters Newsletter Magazine! Quilters really liked it, and I had so many requests for the pattern. There are over 50 different stars in Skyfall, so a pattern wouldn’t do it justice. It would need to be a book! To make my life easier, I decided to create a Block of the Month based on the quilt. That way I could design a little bit every month.
This month, we’re on Block #17, basically an Ohio Star variation. Since I didn’t take notes when I originally made the quilt, I need to start from scratch.
First, I take photos of the star of the month, trying to get the best light and trying not the shake the camera. When I take a close-up of something this small (it’s only a 3″ square), it’s hard to keep the camera steady.
Then I pop the best photo into Photoshop to crop it, straighten it out, and tweak the lighting. Then I save two copies: one original, and one that sized for the website. So now I have this photo for the block pattern:
Now I need to figure out the dimensions of each unit in the block, so I sketch it out on graph paper. I could do this in EQ7, but I like working with colored pencils and graph paper.
Again, this is a 3-inch block finished, so it looks like I need four 1 1/2″ squares of the dark blue for the four corners, four Hourglass blocks that are 1 1/2″, and one 1 1/2″ square that is the star color.
Next, I jump to EQ7 to create graphics for the individual units I need for this block. Some of these I already have from previous blocks, but I need to make sure that the colors and values are correct. I need a dark blue square, a salmon square, and a dark blue and salmon hourglass block.
Then I convert them to black-and-white for the final layout.
Argh, I need a break. I’ll work on the actual instructions tomorrow.
Until then!
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What a beautiful quilt!
Thanks so much, Lisa!