I had a real dilemma this month in deciding what to release on the first Wednesday of the month. I considered two other designs first. And then...

I got invited to a baby shower for late September, and well, you know. My plans went out the window because I had to make a baby quilt!



I couldn't pass up the chance to test a new digital design on a new quilt top, so you can understand why I pivoted. This quilt will be long gone by the time another month rolls around, so I wanted to make and document the process now while my memory is fresh.



Sometimes I start new design ideas directly in Art and Stitch, the design software I use. Other times, ideas start as hand-drawn sketches on my iPad. I use the Graphic app for these kinds of rough sketches. I know how to use the pencil tool in this program, and that's about it. I literally select it and then draw with my pencil. I can't even use the eraser tool 100% consistently, so the sketches are rather crude, but I only need a seed of an id...

This is the fourth—and possibly last? (I said that last time) —design of my "Echoed" series. Originally, I created Echoed Swirls, then Echoed Curves. More recently, there was Echoed Circles, and now Echoed Stars!



This design takes after the original Echoed Swirls in its free-motion quilting look. Because of how the design is offset and nested, the rows are not easy to spot, which is why it could look like someone painstakingly fmq'ed it. 😉



I tried to make the stars vary slightly in size, without any of them being too big or too small. I also tried adjusting the tilt of the stars to give it a more organic look.



This design could be used for kids' quilts, modern quilts like this one, or even patriotic quilts. With the simple patchwork and a number of solid fabrics, I thought this quilt top could support quilting that's denser and more complex than with other quilt patterns.

The Quilt

Quilt Pattern

This is the Jelly Stripes quilt by Quilty Love. I finished it in October of 20...