At the end of May my mother texted me about commissioning a wall hanging for the cottage my mother and aunt inherited when my grandmother passed away last fall. It’s the cottage I recently posted about on the coast of Connecticut. It’s right on the water on the coast of Connecticut but it’s not a fancy place; running water is from rain barrels on the roof, no shower and until this year no Internet.
After our quick conversation I had a little panic moment where I feared I’d never be able to come up with something perfect for the space it needed to go in. I thought about it for a few weeks and came up with nothing. Finally I decided it would be easier to brainstorm with my mother and aunt on what to do.
While I was there this past weekend I snapped a photo of the wall for reference at home. Yes, the photo is straight; the cottage is a bit crooked (I’m telling you it’s a quaint spot) and we are in the midst of repainting the place so don’t mind the multi-colored ceiling!
While together, the three of us brainstormed on topics. I was trolling Pinterest and listening to the requirements:
- Nautical but not too nautical
- No anchors (aunt does not care for them)
- Fish, maybe no fish, but these are cute
- Blue and red to tie in the pillows we already have
- Oh and we need new curtains but we can do that later
- Sailboats are neat
Once we hit on sailboats I had a gut feeling that was a winner. I looked at some paper pieced sailboats but didn’t love them but when I found inspiration from the Patchwork Thread t-shirt Sailboat, I knew I had a winner!
I measured the spot on the wall again (deciding on at least 48×38″) and opened EQ7 to whip up a design and after a couple of iterations I had the block shape and proportions just the way I wanted them. We had talked about what fabric to use and I steered them towards Bonnie and Camille’s line Daysail for Moda. The colors were just right and I knew I could tone down the use of green to let the blues and reds be the focus.
I’m an over thinker so once I had the layout together and we were all in agreement I quickly ordered the fabric so I wouldn’t waste time second guessing the decisions. I picked up the charm packs and yardage I needed from the Fat Quarter Shop who has been so wonderful in sponsoring the giveaways for the 2015 New Quilt Blogger Blog hops (week 1 and week 2.) I’ve got some MASSIVE projects coming up this summer but I’m so excited for this one to get started!
Do you use EQ7 at all when designing your quilts? I jump back and forth using EQ7 or pen and paper but want to start using EQ7 more since it really helps me visualize placement ahead of time.
Love the sail boat design. It should look great on that wall. I have EQ7 and have tried to use it to design quilts that live in my head but haven’t been very successful with it. Maybe I need an EQ7 class. Do those even exist?
Thanks Tish! I’m super excited to get cutting into fabric for this project! I struggle with the EQ7 program at times but after messing around with some of the features and watching some YouTube videos it got easier. There are EQ7 teachers, there’s a find an EQ7 teacher search on their site: electricquilt.com/education/eq-teachers/hire-a-teacher
What a great design for the cottage. The DaySail line is nautical without being too nautical and has such great bright colors. I use EQ to design most of my quilts, it is great to audition different layouts and fabrics.
I really need to work with EQ7 more, but I’m still really learning it. And I don’t design as much as I thought I would. Did you see that the FQS had all of the DaySail yardage on sale as part of their birthday bash yesterday?! I couldn’t resist and bought half yards of some of my favorite prints.
The boats are so perfect and so is the Daysail fabric line! I am so excited for this design to become a reality! 🙂 I use Inkscape these days for my quilt design needs along with pencil and paper.
Me too Yvonne, it was a total a-ha moment when I thought of using Daysail. Picking coordinating fabrics while still achieving a wide variety is not my strong suit and I’m learning to downplay me weaknesses to let my strengths shine through. I’ve never used Inkscape but I do occasionally use Illustrator. There’s definitely some advantages/disadvantages between Electric Quilt and a vector drawing program (Inkscape or Illustrator.) I like vector basesd for designing more modern quilts, while this quilt has a more traditional layout so EQ was pretty easy to bend to my will 🙂
Love your design for that wall! I use EQ7 a lot. Sure saves a lot of time and prevents fabric waste, if I plan first before cutting.
Yea Jan, I’m definitely guilty of looking at my pile of cut fabric and thinking “why didn’t I plan better” afterwards. Maybe this is a sign I’m finally learning from those mistakes (yes, that’s pluralized!)
Love the final idea. It will look great in the cottage. I’ve never used EQ7. I just resort to scrap paper or excel if I need it. More usually I just make it up as I go. 🙂
Love the sailboat theme! It’s going to be such a cute quilt once it’s finished.
oh, I have cottage envy, Connecticut envy and sailboat quilt envy, Not that I am jealous or anything
I hop around and design more on Touchdraw/Inkscpae but always end up back in EQ7 for the final version. Hate the whole build a block then tile it appraoch – much prefer to play with shapes on a blank canvas!
oh and I love the slanted sail your design creates – feels like a boat cutting through the wind!
Thanks Ruth, I messed around with a couple configurations on the sails before I came back to this initial one, it looks like they’re racing which is perfect since my grandfather used to be an official in sailboat races and we can see people racing them from the patio from time to time.
that looks like a fun HST project! Will look terrific in the cottage.