creative ideas for quilt design

So you want to make a quilt. But not just any quilt. 

You want to make a UNIQUE quilt. One that you’ve never seen before! 

Or maybe you’re a quilt pattern designer and you’re looking for new ideas for your next quilt pattern? 

But where do you start? How do you make sure that the idea you come up with is unique, is truly a representation of your design style and doesn’t look like ALL the other quilts you see on pinterest or instagram? 

Come with me and I’ll show you how…

the challenge

Coming up with unique design ideas is the number one challenge that people talk to me about when starting the journey to designing a quilt. 

That’s why I developed and started sharing my design process, to help quilters, and creatives gain the confidence that they need to consistently come up with unique design ideas. 

Coming up with a unique design idea not only helps you stand out from other quilt patterns on the market, it also allows you to TALK about your quilt pattern in a way that is specific to you. 

What is important here is not how similar or different your quilt pattern is to something that has probably been done before, but how clearly YOU show up in your design.

I know we all like to hide, but this is your chance to shine, as YOU. 

a word on originality

I’m sure I’m not alone in having been down the giant ‘my art is only valid if it is original’ rabbit hole, and you know what  – I’ll let you in on a little secret about what I found out – NOTHING IS ORIGINAL.

And that is a good thing. 

You no longer need to wonder if something is original or not:  it’s not,  so just move on.

Now it’s down to just expressing YOU and your unique experience, your unique output from your design black box (what I like to your brain and your creative mind). 

And this is what makes YOUR quilt pattern unique. YOU.

Sharing your story about your quilt pattern allows your customer to make a connection with that story and your quilt pattern that they might not make with anyone else. 

That half square triangle pattern might have been done before by someone somewhere else, BUT IT HASN’T BEEN DONE BY YOU.

You are the sum of your own unique experiences. You are the only one who can create in the way that you create.

The world needs your creativity, and there are some of the 20 million quilters out there who are looking for quilt patterns that only YOU can make. 

So how do you come up with a unique design idea? 

I’m going to outline 3 steps from my design process that allow you to consistently come up with unique design ideas. Not just one idea. MANY. Let’s walk through these steps now: 

Step 1 is about sourcing unique inspiration. 

And the key here is unique. 

Of course your designs will look like everyone else’s if you are looking at the same sources of inspiration. Even if you aren’t consciously doing it. 

Here are my TOP TIPS for making sure you tap into unique inspiration: 

1. Get OUT! Get outside – nature is an infinite source of inspiration, from plants and flowers, to shadows, colours, even sounds and smells. 

Get out and go and see a local museum or art gallery. 

Go somewhere different. See something new. 

2. Connect the dots on a few things – so you like Islamic art, tiles from Portugal and science fiction novels. That’s a pretty unique combo, right? I bet you could generate some super incredible ideas if you mix and match a few of your interests. 

3. And number 3, THIS, my friend, is the number 1 thing to avoid if you want to come up with unique quilt design ideas. And that’s SCROLLING INSTAGRAM. 

STOP DOING IT. Get off the internet. Find something else that interests you. Stop looking at what everyone else is looking at. 

Now that we can tap into unique inspiration sources, we are already guaranteed to at least start somewhere different from everyone else 

And that leads us to…

Step 2 where we get to sketch. 

Don’t panic. You don’t need to be Picasso. Just use a pencil and some paper and sketch what you see. We’re not creating any kind of masterpiece here. 

And remember, be free of the idea that it has to be original. 

Grab some of the unique inspiration that you gathered in step 1 – photos, books, objects, images, plants, leaves, flowers, your favourite clothes or textiles…

Take a look at them. Up close, far away. Try sketching them. 

Abstract out the shapes, get minimal. 

Embellish them and get maximal! 

Play around a bit,  and then…  here’s the magic… Start iterating. 

What do I mean by iterating? 

I mean, take one of your ideas, one of your sketches and change one small thing about it. 

Then, take that sketch with the change you just made and change something else small about it. 

Then repeat as you continue to sketch 

This is the KEY to unique ideas. 

Often we get that first initial idea down on paper and think we’re done, but it’s rare that your first idea will be your best… The chances of creating a masterpiece in one go??? Probably about 1 to a bajillion. 

That’s where iterating comes in, it helps you develop your idea, and it also lets you rapidly generate multiple ideas in a very short amount of time. 

Now that you have a few ideas, the next step is… 

Step 3 – evaluate your designs. 

Now that you have more than one idea we have something to compare and contrast. We have a choice. 

We have multiple ideas to evaluate, to choose from and make a decision on. To take action on. And chose the best one to take forward. 

We can bring in the elements of design to help us evaluate these designs as well. 

We can look at our designs and start asking questions about how we used these elements of design: 

• Can I add lines, or take some away?

• What colours am I using and what emotions are they evoking – remember that colour is a powerful way to evoke emotion in a piece. 

• What about space? Is the design busy, do I need to give the shapes more room to breathe? 

• What effect would adding texture do, when I am quilting this piece? 

• What if I flip the values, and change light to dark or dark to light? Can I get some secondary patterns emerging by playing with this? 

decision time

At the end of this 3 step process we can make a decision. An informed decision.  

We took a unique source of inspiration.

We iterated it to take it even further from the original source.

And then we evaluated it based on the principles of design and arrived at our decision. We chose one of the unique design ideas that we came up with, and now we can carry it forward as our quilt design. 

Your design might be a block. It might be an overall quilt design. 

If it’s a block, we can start playing with combining and recombining these blocks. We could add in additional blocks. 

If it’s an overall design, we want to start thinking about how to break it down into smaller component blocks.

and.. repeat…

This 3 step process is something that works over and over again. 

You won’t ever feel like you can’t come up with a unique design idea again. 

A simple 3 step method for consistently coming up with unique quilt pattern designs. 

TA daa! You’ve got it. 

next steps

If you’d like to know more, and grab your copy of the guide ‘5 steps to design your own quilt’, head here:

You can also find me on Instagram @allyryde and on youtube