"Winter Blues" part 1

Below is my initial drawing for my "Winter Blues" quilt. There are two other drawings: one has white for the background instead of black (but, I've already bought the black fabric); the other has orange for the background (but, it looked more Fall than Winter). I've made this quilt several times before: once in shades of purple; and, once in shades of brown (both are on my website under "Gallery."


This is an easy quilt to make . . . it only requires the same same square colored two different ways as shown below. I believe the number of colorways is the key to the level of difficulty for my patterns: many of my patterns require the same square colored four different ways, while my "Mardi Gras Men" quilt required NINE different colorways!!

Now, I have fifteen light blue fat quarters and thirteen dark blue fat quarters for this quilt from the fabric swap. I bought an additional 3.5 yards of light and dark blue fabric and a black fabric with gold stars for the background (pics to come). I know I can get 1.5 pinwheel from each fat quarter (and a lot more from the additional yardage).

I'm thinking about cutting the fabric into strips wide enough to accommodate my templates; then, cut the fabric into my desired shapes; then, shuffle the stacks so I don't use two of the same fabrics in any given square. Then, with muslin foundations at the ready, I'll sew the fabric to the foundations (reshuffling the stacks of pieces as needed). After I've sewn all the squares, I'll sort 'em by colorway. Since the pattern has a light/dark contrast going on, I'm not gonna be too concerned if the pinwheels aren't entirely the same fabric (there will be more pinwheels from the additional yardage, anyway). There are several fabrics that don't match my perception of "blue" but I'm gonna use 'em anyway; I hope to diffuse their lack of "blueness" by spreading 'em out.

Next up: the fabrics.

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