A Quilter with a plan IS mighty
As a quilt designer AND teacher, my passion isn’t just designing quilts; it’s giving you the creative permission to make the quilt YOU want to make.
I absolutely LOVE it when quilters take my idea and make it their own. My job is to give you the foundations (quilty pun!) and the confidence.
Whether you follow the pattern as written, make a small tweak, or take my idea and run wild with your stash — I will be your biggest cheerleader every step of the way.
It all starts with a plan!
In this post, I’m sharing the planning process I use for all of my BOM quilt programs. I’ve tested and revised it over the years so you’ll be successful making your own version.
Steps for PLANNing aN AURORA QUILT
Planning is the first step to a successful quilt and we devote a whole module for planning!
Once you sign up for the Aurora program, before sewing your first steps will be to decide:
- What size will you be making? The Aurora Program offers several different size options, starting from as small as a wall hanging size (40” x 40”) allll the way up to as large as a King sized quilt (110’’ x 90’’)
- What colors/fabrics will you be using? You can choose one of the four color plans; each of the color plans includes detailed yardages lists so you can shop (your stash). Or, you can use the included coloring sheets and yardage calculator to really make it your own!
For Aurora, aside from the rainbow option, I created three other color options for you to choose from or use for inspiration if you want to choose your own colors.
Aurora COlor PLANS: DIY
If you want to make it your own, it’s tempting to skip this step, especially filling in the coloring page. It can be tedious, but I promise it’s worth it!
Most of our quilters love to use the fabric they already have in their stash. To help you choose your own fabrics and colors we give you a few different resources:
- The Coloring Sheet (duh!) – we offer analog and digital versions
- A “Choosing Colors & Fabrics for Modern Triangle Quilts” Color Class – (This is everything I know about choosing colors in one 60 minute on demand class!)
- Yardage Calculator Worksheets (the Wildflower Program worksheets are shown below) and Video Demo on how to calculate your yardage.
I recommend using colored pencils or markers to trial colors. If you have an iPad, download the Procreate app to colorize the digital coloring page (tutorials are provided in the membership). Not familiar with quilt coloring pages? Learn four ways to use quilt coloring pages to get started.
Here’s a few examples of different Aurora plans from our community:
CHOOSE YOUR QUILT SIZE
Next, we choose fabrics based on our designs and the quilt size. Filling out the yardage calculator is easy with a video tutorial in the membership hub.
Aurora is available in king, queen, twin, large throw and baby sizes, made from 2, 4, or 6-inch blocks and all of the foundations are included in each size so you have lots of choices.
CHOOSING FABRICS
Again, as a Kona solids girl and color lover, I cut up the Kona swatch card (365 colors!) into small color “chips”. You can see how the colors work (or don’t work) together before I shop. And since I typically use solids for my quilts, ordering is easy and I get exactly what I want.
Here’s my fabric chips I pulled…
And then here’s my fabric I actually choose. I was so proud of myself! I didn’t order any new fabric… I used my stash!
What fabrics work best for Aurora?
Now, while I love my solids fabrics for my own quilts, you don’t have to use solids.
Any fabric that reads as a solid or near solid work really well for Aurora. You can use solids, batiqs, tone-on-tone, grunge, speckles, dots… so many fun possibilities! These fabrics (below) would work great!
NEXT STEPS
You can join the Aurora Program any time by signing up on this page.
In my next post in the Aurora BOM quilt series, I’ll share the notions, how to prepare and cut your fabrics. Then I’ll show you exactly how I set up my sewing and pressing area to make freezer paper piecing enjoyable. That’s always my goal!
Happy quilting!
Rebecca
