We Have 5,000 Designs From Which To Choose! So What?

It sounds quite dazzling to have over 5,000 digitized designs to choose from. But, the real question is "Do any of them fit my needs?" or "Can you create one that fits?"

The second question has been answered in previous newsletters that are in our newsletter library.

The first question takes some finesse. I will attack this subject on two fronts:

• Types Of Designs; and,
• Design Fits.

Types Of Designs

I divide designs into three categories:

• Blocks
• Borders
• Edge-To-Edge.

"Wait!" you may say. "There are more divisions of patterns." I have combined several other types into one, as you will see.      

Blocks

Blocks are designs where there are no "tails" sticking out to attach to another repeat or design. The "start" and "stop points are usually at one spot, on top of each other. They are often used in corner stones and quilt blocks. An example is shown here of a Bear Cat Paw print.

Borders

I use this as a catchall for Borders & Sashings. The reason is simple: both are a long string of repeated pattern elements. Both have tails that stick out for the start and stop nodes to connect to the next one in the series. And, both have the start and stop nodes on the same horizontal or vertical plane. An example of this is shown here. It is a Bear Cat Chain.

The main difference between a border and a sashing is that the border tends to be a wider and taller design, whereas the sashing must maintain a narrower height.

Although these are borders and sashings, they also can be used as edge-to-edge designs, although the stitching might become somewhat boring.

Edge-To-Edge

This category is again a catchall. Originally it was for stitching from one edge of the quilt to the other. The designs were either:

• Overall - where the elements are all arranged top-to-bottom in the same direction [not shown]; and,



• Meander - where the elements are not arranged in the same direction. Shown here are Animal Tracks All Meander. Note that at the top left and right there are tails so that the next iteration of the design can be generated.

Again, this is a catchall category because the designs can either be edge-to-edge over an entire quilt, or edge-to-edge over a block or section of the quilt.      

Design Fits

This subject will be discussed in the next newsletter.