A Table Topper, Some New Skills, and Wanting Your Opinion

A fat quarter here, a quarter of a yard there, a small scrap of something else, and an idea sprang into being. I didn't know what would come of these pretty fabrics when I bought them last summer.  I used some of them in "Mitten Weather", but a mug rug uses so little fabric, and I still had more than enough for a small holiday table topper.

I never would have guessed that one little pattern could take so long to make! It was my own fault, of course. The table topper, itself, stitched up quickly. It really is an easy little thing.

I can just see this made up in different color schemes and fabrics.
 Patriotic colors, soft baby colors, vibrant autumn colors, and on and on.

The time consuming part came from my gathering enough courage to take a plunge and do something totally new - an experiment in pattern making.

Until now, I've mainly illustrated my patterns with photos, and since my patterns have been based on applique, that technique has worked very well for me. Sometimes, though, a person needs a change of pace.  My newest table topper doesn't have one little bit of applique. Nothing at all for me to draw out by hand!

Using photographs for every step of making a pieced quilt, even for a tiny one like this, takes a ton of photos and lots of space. I felt that I needed to cut down on pages, so I showed the piecing and construction of the pattern entirely with computer drawn diagrams! That was the part took so long.

I've been learning how to make these illustrations bit by bit over the past year and a half, but using them exclusively for whole pattern turned out to be a much bigger bite than I'd expected! I still don't have it perfected. Ha! Not by a long shot!

So far, I've learned to work with geometric shapes only, but that's a beginning. I'm learning,  and I feel pretty good about figuring it all out on my own.

So...
     no applique,
           diagrams rather than photos to illustrate construction ...

I wonder how my customers will respond to this new side of me.

I will continue to make my applique patterns with lots of photos, and I'll likely mix photos and diagrams in more patterns in the future, but I really want to know how well this computer generated style of pattern works for you quilters.

Please let me know what you think!!

And happy stitching!!