McCall's Design Star - Challenge 2 - The Process

So, where did I start with this challenge - well, I received the following set of fabrics from McCall's for the Design Star Challenge # 2 - they are 10 fat quarters from Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

We had to:

Use at least 8 of the 10 fabrics
They needed to comprise at least 50% of the finished quilt
The quilt needed to be at least 24"x 24" or 576 sq in if it was not a square form
The fabrics needed to be able to be identifiable in the photo we submitted

So - where to start.   I was perplexed - How do I stick to the 50% rule, How to I maximize the use of the fabric supplied, How do I cut the fabric so I don't mess up and say something like ...... (you fill in that blank!)

I went to Barbara Brackman's wonderful resource Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns to look at one patch designs. I figured that I might be able to make the most of the fabric and also be able to keep track of "their" fabric and "my additions".  I picked # 176A - Designers Choice (isn't that a great name!) and 176B The "L" Patch (a variation on Designers Choice). I pulled out my graph paper and started sketching

I then moved to EQ7 and drafted the quilt in various combinations of blocks and color ways.

I finally settled on the following design (after much angst! - just ask my friends!).

I decided to alternate the fat quarters supplied with Dupioni Silk.

Stop back tomorrow for look at how I decided to piece this together and work with the silk - but before you sign out of here - pop over to the McCall's site and vote for my quilt and add comment in the comment box!