My Design Story

In my true-to-life design story, I actually did toss the fabric out in front of me. Frustrated, I was about to discard my whole idea. That’s where my story begins…

The wild ride on my very curvy quilting journey started quite by accident as I discovered the nuances of value while using both sides of fabric. This discovery was the beginning of something wonderful which sparked a whole line of quilt patterns starting in 2017.  Today my design story includes more than 50 quilt patterns, plus fabric & surface designs on lots of fun merchandise. I’m having more fun than should be allowed a quilter! 

Design Story: Quilt Patterns

I began my quilt-making journey around 1998. So in 2017, as an "experienced quilter", I thought I knew all about fabric value – light, medium and dark, right? However, it wasn’t until I explored the idea of intentionally using the reverse side of fabric in my quilts that I truly began to see the benefits of incorporating subtle value differences into my designs.

Although it is true that not all fabrics have great reverse sides, those that do can add a “WOW” factor, a sparkle if you will, to your quilts! While the reverse side tends to be lighter in value (some are more, some are less) than the right side, they provide a similar motif and colorway that blends beautifully.

So, here I was, designing Phoebee, a large applique bee for a small wall hanging design. I was experimenting to see if I could actually make a quilt pattern. I had chosen a very vibrant digital focus fabric by Hoffman California Fabrics to use as my large applique bee and the quilt binding. I had already chosen and pieced a rather bold, eclectic background of eleven fabrics. During the process of auditioning my background fabrics, I had learned that the my focus fabric was playing a starring role - in fact, it was shouting to me that it was the most important thing about this quilt. (Yes, some fabrics seem to shout, "Use me, pick me, love me!") Perfect. After all, this was my bee and binding, the focal point for this wall hanging design. So I already knew this fabric could "handle" some bold background choices.

However, my quilt needed a third element to add some interest. I tried a flower, a bee skep, a honeycomb, and a bee hive...all using my focus fabric. But each shape I tried pulled my eyes away from the bee. Running out of "play" time for the day, I stood up, frustrated, and tossed the fabric to the top of my layout. It landed upside down...and that's when the light bulb flickered.

The reverse side of my focus fabric was exactly what I needed. It was the same, but softer. The value was lighter, but I could still see the geometric floral design of the motif. The reverse became the flowering branch above the bee. It was as though Pheobee was getting her life and vibrancy from the very flowers she was pollinating!  

I soon became THAT person at the quilt shops, unpinning the neatly folded bolts to view both the reverse and the right sides of fabric at the same time. It's easy to audition your focus fabrics when you a) remove the color to look only at value and b) know what to look for! Learn more in my How To Section and on Creative Bee Studios YouTube Channel.

My next two patterns were very similar to Phoebee, but Belle (a butterfly) and Lilly (a dragonfly) were made with very different focus fabrics from Phoebee's and, consequentially, softer background fabrics. 

  A Whisper

When you see a quilt like this, made with both sides of fabric, you tend to linger a bit, while your eyes take in the similarities of the fabrics. Then you figure out what is going on with this quilt. Something is similar, but not the same. Unlike using completely different fabrics, whose values might all be “shouting” at the same level, the REVERSE offers a whisper or a hint at the fabric’s motif. This is the magical part. You can easily add interest and sparkle to your quilts by simply incorporating the REVERSE!

Best of all, auditioning both sides of fabric is fun and very easy when you know what simple things to observe. Try adding the reverse side of fabrics to your quilt design story! Read more at Mysterious Values and More on Value.