Fabric Pull
Quilt Design

November Inspiration & Design {Modern Design Lab}

The design group in which I have been participating now has a name: Modern Design Lab (MDL)! I like the group name and how well it describes our activities together. For November, instead of an inspiration image taken by one of our members, we were given an image of a magazine cover to use as inspiration.

November Inspiration

November Inspiration

The email that contained the challenge noted, “[…] the colors [are] super interesting, [and] the HGTV cover also has some graphic ideas. Use the color, the designs or both.” My first impression of the cover was that I enjoyed the mix of colors and I thought that solids would be more appropriate to use than prints in a fabric pull.

If I were looking to pull an exact fabric palette, I would hop over to my friend Anne from play craft’s Palette Builder, where I could upload the image and get a shopping list from a variety of solids.

November Photo Inspiration-palette builder Bella Solids

November Photo Inspiration-palette builder Bella Solids

Instead, I went to my stash to see what I could find, which turned out to be fairly similar to the Palette Builder tool, I’m pleased to say!

Fabric Pull

Fabric Pull

Once I had a photograph of the fabrics, I could import the image into Inkscape, where I do my design doodling. From the image I could fill in designs with my selected color palette.

November MDL Design Idea

November MDL Design Idea

I have been making a lot of mini quilts based on the MDL prompts, so the first thing I was aiming for in my design was something a bit larger, perhaps a baby quilt size. Taking a closer look at the inspiration image, I wanted the flow of color on the quilt to mimic the large framed print.

The MDL meeting to share our progress is in just under 2 weeks. It’s time for me to see if I have enough fabric on hand to make this 36″ square quilt or if I will need to modify my idea.

11 thoughts on “November Inspiration & Design {Modern Design Lab}

  1. rl2b2017 says:

    Hi Yvonne! I’d say your fabric pull is a spot on match. Your design looks fun and it will be great to see it become a real mini quilt. ~smile~ Roseanne

  2. Jayne says:

    Your fabric pull and design is a very good representation of the magazine color! I can’t wait to see the quilt!

  3. That Palette Builder tool is awesome. Thanks for sharing it. Take care, Mary.

  4. Love this! It looks like it will be a fun one to make.

  5. Amanda Rudnick says:

    It’s SPECTACULAR! I’m not so much into the miniatures; but I would DEFINITELY make it in a lap size! You amaze me with your designs and colors.

  6. Quite something that you had just those colors in your stash – it is a beautiful pull. Love the quilt design though the curves would make me a bit nervous. You will do it justice however. Very nice!! Fun to use the magazine for inspiration. Are there other bloggers who are in the group? It would be fun to see what others come up with – maybe you can share a few pics of the results?

  7. Lorna S Jones says:

    Great colors! Love the proposed design, too! Some baby is going to be very, very lucky!!

  8. Rochelle Summers says:

    I am always impressed by the designs you create from the inspiration “idea”. This will be lovely. I’m not surprised that you had the teal and blue colors in your stash. Look forward to seeing the completed design.

  9. Patty says:

    love the design!

  10. Suzanne says:

    On that magazine cover, the chair, the desk and the desk lamp all have a mid-century modern vibe, and so do most of the colors. Cars, stoves, cabinets, refrigerators, kitchen tables, countertops, coffee tables, small appliances and sewing machines were made in pinks, greens and aqua, even yellow and yellow green as well! They were very popular colors.
    When I was a young teen, I painted my bedroom walls the same color as the dark turquoise in your fabric pull. Unfortunately, when it was done I hated it, probably because my room wasn’t bright enough and it became a cave! I painted it over with a pale yellow which needed multiple coats (paint wasn’t as good back in those days). My arm was sore for days.
    When I was little, we had a 1950-something Rambler station wagon, 2-toned, in the exact turquoise and light green in your pull. Dad took us on a couple of marvelous vacations from home in New Jersey to New York, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in that car. In those days, we were allowed to climb out of the back seats (there were no seat belts back then) into the back of the wagon to play or lie down and sleep. That old wagon was a “land yacht” and could gently rock us to sleep as though we were in a boat, riding gentle ripples in the water. We loved it when he would speed up a little to hit a small hill – we’d go airborne for a second because it had such soft springs. We used to beg him to do it. Nowadays, he’d most likely be arrested for child endangerment!
    OK, off the memories soapbox. It’s very interesting to see a modern quilt made in what (to me anyway) are mostly retro colors. I know for a fact that your finished product will be amazing. And this will surprise you (well, maybe); I really don’t like those colors – mostly because I’m not much for pastels or the 50’s vibe. Neither my mother nor I liked the mid-century look. She kept our house more traditional and I guess it follows that I would do the same. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that I admire the unique structure of your design and how the colors work together so well. I love how it PERFECTLY reflects the HGTV mag cover. Your quilt would look amazing behind the bird picture instead of that color block art. Can’t wait to see it done!

  11. Kaja says:

    It is an interesting colour palette and I like it a lot. I also love that you are heading into a design with all those lovely curves – can’t wait to see this one done.

I really appreciate the time and thought you take to comment, and I look forward to conversing with you. :)