Quilting Creative Process

I'm pretty new to quilting...and am wondering if any other quilters out there could share their creative process? How does a pile of fabric go from the stash to the bed? Or do you start with a design, figure out how much fabric you need, gather supplies, and THEN go to work? Or, or, or....how do YOU do it?

Interesting question! I let the fabric tell me what it wants to do...sound corny? Some fabrics beg to be left in big pieces so I look for a pattern with at least some large blocks in it. Other times I'll have several fabrics that look really good together so I'll look for a pattern with a design using that number of fabrics. I, fortunately, have a large stash on hand, and also a large number of magazines and books. I look through the books occasionaly to see if any pattern catches my eye then go shopping on my own shelves.Since I purchase patterns/books as well as fabric as I see ones I like, I'm usually able to pair pattern and fabric when the mood hits. Sometimes I see fabric that I really want to use but haven't found the right pattern, so I leave the fabric out where I can see it on a regular basis until I get an inspiration.  If I'm not inspired, I can't get enthused!

@ktbb - Thanks! That really does help. I seem to be able to put a few fabrics together...and then get stuck. I can come up with a pattern that only requires four fabrics...but I don't have ENOUGH of those four fabrics to make what I need to make! (ie - a twin-sized for my son's second birthday, and a queen sized for my MIL's Christmas prezzie. *grin*)

Are there any quilting blogs you'd recommend?

sounds like you have a good start to some projects. Why not make a copy of the pattern you like and fasten to it snippets of the fabric you have that you like and keep that in a ziplock in your purse so the next time you go to a fabric store you can pull it out to check for other fabrics? You never know when some idea will hit you and having the information with you will help you make the right decision. Also remember that you can adapt the pattern to do what you want. If you don't have enough to make the whole pattern, why not make up what you have then make the borders larger...or add an inner border to make up the difference? You still may have to purchase additional fabric, but you can move ahead with what you have...and you don't have to purchase all the border fabric before you start piecing...while it's a good idea, it's not essential. Next season some new fabric may come out that's just perfect and you move on...to me that is the fun part - finding just the right fabric to finish up what I've been working on. It;s also fun to let you little one help you pick out fabric for his own quilt...it may not be a perfect color match, but it will make him feel good (later if not now) to be able to say that he helped make the quilt.

I haven't made that many quilts but I make lots of other sewn things and I think there's a lot of crossover in thought process.

Sometimes it starts with a fabric or several. In that case I may look at designs to figure out what pattern would showcase that fabric best. Depending on time frame I may not find something I like for months. Once I do then I gather whatever coordinating fabrics and notions I need.

Other times I have an idea of a pattern and a sense of what sort of fabric I'm looking for and I may either gradually collect fabrics or I may go hunt them down. I'm starting a quilt now that began with an idea I have had for several years and two fabrics that were meant for another project that never got done. So I've added five other fabrics and now I need to do the math and get to work.

In the case of quilts or curtains, I am generally using fabric bought specifically for use in a quilt or other fairly large project. On smaller projects I am more likely to grab things out of my stash and maybe only buy one or two things to complete the project. Different kinds of challenges with each.

If you have fabrics you really like but not enough of them then you get creative with how you use them. As PP mentioned using larger or double borders. You can also use sashing between blocks. You can also break away from tradition and use larger expanses of a "background" fabric. Maybe just have your traditional piecings floating or don't do traditional piecing.

Someone just posted a beautiful baby blanket made on a white background with circles of different fabrics - looks awesome. She used a much smaller amount of the patterned fabrics than would normally be needed to piece the size quilt she made. Looks like 5 different prints, maybe only a fat quarter of each! Hope you find that as inspirational as I did.

Love this question! My creative process is usually jogged by all the wonderful fabric lines, especially from younger designers... the fabric is so colorful and has so much energy. It would be easy to get carried away and buy too much, but if you're on a budget (who isn't?!) you may want to limit yourself to a charm packet or layer cake or jelly roll-- just so you have some of those coveted fabrics in a quilt. I always end up putting other fabrics into the mix...makes it MY quilt with my personal design and color preferences.
 So... I usually go for the fabric first in my creative process THEN the design. I check out books, blogs, etc. and when a pattern hits me...Eureka! I know it's right. If I had a small stash (which I don't!),  I would most likely do what the other replies have said which is to use a background fabric and use your colorful fabrics to make the pattern... the circles in the quilt above (beautiful!) or you could do a nine-patch, or whirligig.. something where the negative space (background fabric) accentuates the colorful fabrics. Know your son will love whatever you make! You're MIL tho...well, good luck with that!