T.G.I.F.

Finally Friday!  For a short week (Labor Day holiday), it definitely felt like a really long one!  I didn't have much time this week to work on projects since I was traveling for work.  I didn't even get much hand sewing in, shocking!

So today, I'm going to share a little bit about how I test my designs without EQ7.  I do own EQ7 and use it for mocking up patterns that I end up making, but for quick tests of block designs I'm old-fashioned.  Using pencil and paper, I draw my block design and color it in.  I love using Prismacolor color pencils because they shade in evenly, a 24 color pack is plenty of different colors for mocking up designs.

Once I have chosen a block to test, I take a photo of the block with my phone.  Then I crop the photo into a square or as close as I can to a square.

Using a free app called PhotoGrid, I make a 2x2 version with that block.  This is where I play with rotations of the blocks, if that changes the layout.

I then take that 2x2 and turn it into an 4x4 grid.  This process can then be repeated until I get larger than the size I want.  Then I crop the photo on my phone to the size of my quilt.

This is a very quick and easy way to check if the block I designed will look good repeated or if I need to add another design with it.  There are also times I accidentally made some swirls that repeated that looked frighteningly like an offensive WWII symbol.  I quickly delete and scrap those designs!

As a reminder, if you haven't entered the Making Connections giveaway yet, be sure to check out my blog post here and all the other bloggers in the hop.

Also if you haven't checked out my latest pattern, Circular Illusion, you can do so here.  I created the pattern using pencil and paper like I showed above!  The pattern is on sale until the end of the month for $5.99! (Etsy | Craftsy | Payhip)

On Tuesday, it's my turn to release the block I designed for the I Wish You a Merry QAL!  I am so excited to share this cute block with the world!

This next week is going to be crazy busy with work, and I'll have very little quilting time, if any at all.  I hope you have a more productive week than me!  Happy Sewing everyone!