Quilted Inspiration

Hi Plum Dumpling fans! Nikki here with some images from around the web to inspire you to play with Mary's fabulous Patchwork Templates:

These amazing templates can be virtually 100% customizable! Mary set up layers for each individual piece, as well as layers that contain multiple similar pieces, so you can add patterned or solid papers or photos to whole sections or single spots of the templates.

Those of you who are quilters will know what this means--that in each of these templates you can change the look almost completely, even with the same patchwork pattern. By varying the arrangement of colors they can be transformed into many different looks!

There are countless ways to play with the Log Cabin (the template on the bottom right of the preview, under the PDD logo!). Try arranging light and dark colors in opposite corners, or in the "hourglass" or "bowtie" shape, or simply place fun random prints or photos around a bold center square:

fabulous collection of images from Sew Mama Sew blog

Mary's Log Cabin template is a perfect one to try reducing in size and duplicating to form countless amazing patterns! Here are some examples of what happens when you play with the Log Cabin:

from http://www.boogaj.com/knitting/2008/04/log-cabin-inspi.html

The Friendship Star (top left template) looks simple but can also be dramatically changed with different paper and photo placements. Try light stars on a dark background (or vice versa), stars with different color (or photo) centers, stars all in one color and stars in a wide variety of hues! And don't forget to play with the strips between the stars as well... you'll draw attention differently whether you highlight the diamond-shaped strips or the large squares. Do you recognize the Friendship Stars here:

from Katinka BrusselSprouts

Finally, the quilt pattern on the top right of Mary's preview is called Tumbling Blocks. On this one, try making all the tops or the front sides of the blocks one color; try making each individual cube in one monochromatic scheme; or try ignoring the cube shapes and arranging your colors to highlight the accordion-type shapes going across the template. Check out these inspirational quilt samples:

from Quilt Inspiration blog

We can't wait to see what you do with these awesome templates! For more inspiration about these patterns, a quick search on Google Images will supply you with hundreds of samples from quilters around the web. Have fun patchworking!