Design Wall, Design Board + Web-piecing

my process for Sewing a Rainbow

Do you have a design wall? I can’t recommend one enough. Use mounting tape to affix batting to a stone wall (or staple into drywall) and - presto - you are ready to bloom! A design wall truly transforms quilt-making, both the design and assembly phases.

What a therapeutic process it was to arrange a myriad of bright, colorful squares on my wall last week. Plus, this was a good way to test out the diagrams that I’ve created for the soon-to-release pattern! It took a good while to arrange everything, but I was in no rush.

No, I let the colors speak to me and for me. Pale washed-out hues and dark ones. Fiery hues and clean, cold ones. Distinctions and similarities and opposites - all these color relationships simultaneously soothing and stimulating my soul.

Once the whole quilt was up on my wall, I could step back and consider its whole. Naturally the sight of my rainbow brought on a big smile! It also invited gentle correction. I realized that the pale yellow plusses seemed too shy.

Here I have swapped the centers of the pale yellow swatches: pale magenta for darker magenta. With darker centers that part of the quilt feels more balanced with the intensity of the rest. Yay!

Now I am working with my design board to transfer one section at a time from the design wall to my sewing table. Careful, careful to keep all the squares in order.

Luckily the piecing doesn’t require too much focus because I am using the web-piecing technique. This technique guarantees proper placement of each square, so that I can allow my attention to wonder or even listen to an audio book while I sew.

The Rainbow Over Head pattern includes step-by-step instructions to assemble the quilt web-piecing style. You’re going to love this method, I do declare! It’s genius and a total game-changer, like chain-piecing itself.

Pattern coming this Friday =)