I get asked all the time, ‘How do you come up with your quilt designs.' The simple answer is, I have no idea. But, I can go through how I designed Ocean Dreams to share with you, my process. For this quilt I used the EQ8 program. 

Not to long ago, I got a bunch of old block patterns from my husband’s coworker, who was helping his mother clean out some old boxes. One person’s junk is my treasure! 

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First order of business was to determine a layout and block size.  With so many different blocks I thought on point would look nice and I opted for 12” blocks. Quilt size 95” square. I like a center block layout and I started designing from that point. 

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Color. You can find so many wonderful color combinations online. You can also find them at paint stores. For this quilt I went with an ocean sunset theme. 

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Next is block design.  Since I had so many wonderful blocks, I drew them using EQ8 and started plopping color into them. 

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After I have all the blocks created, I start thinking about placement. I find it easiest when designing a quilt on point to start in the center and work my way out to the edges.

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At this stage I started thinking it needed a border. A great block for an on point quilt is the log cabin block. It is a traditional design that has stood the test of time!

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To finish, I placed color in the sashing and borders. I stepped back and tweaked colors and rotated blocks. I took pictures and compared versions side by side until I settled on a final project I liked.  And there you have it.  How I go about designing a quilt. 

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Ocean Dreams by Sheri Zalar

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