Welcome to lesson two of "How to Design a Quilt in Adobe Illustrator" series. In our first lesson, we covered the basic settings and preferences for designing quilts in Illustrator. In this lesson, we'll be learning how to build quilt blocks with some handy construction techniques.

1. Workspace

First, let's go over your workspace. If you navigate to the "Window" menu, you can check windows you want in your workspace. At the bare minimum, you'll want Color, Stroke, Swatches, Layers, Pathfinder, and Transform. The Align panel will show up at the top of your screen when you have the Selection Tool (V) active, so having the Align window open is just a way to keep it on screen at all times. 

As a general note, I design all of my quilts in grayscale so I can worry about color later.

2. Build A Square

Now, it's time to start clickin' stuff! Let's begin with building the patchwork star. Click M to select the Rectangle Tool. Either drag your cursor while holding SHIFT to draw a square or double click anywhere on the artboard and input your desired dimensions. I'll make a 4 inch square for the center of my patchwork star.

3. Meet Your Control Panel

With your square still selected (click V and click on your square to reselect it if you need), take a look at the top of your screen. You will see the Align panel as I previously mentioned with a square symbol to the left. Click the square to see the drop down menu. This determines how your object is aligned using the align buttons. I usually keep my set to "Align to Artboard." Try out each of the align buttons, they're pretty self-explanatory.

To the right of the align panel is your Reference Point. Your Reference Point influences the values shown in your X and Y fields. By default, your Reference Point will is set to the center of your object, which is indicated by the center square being filled in on the Reference Point icon. You can click any of the unfilled squares on the icon to change your reference point. Keeping your reference point to the center is the simplest thing to do until you are more familiar with AI.

The X and Y fields correspond to your object's position (specifically it's reference point) on the X and Y axis of your artboard. Your W and H fields are your object's width and height. There will be a little chain icon between the two. When you see a short line on either side of the chain, that means your object's proportions are locked. Clicking on the chain will unlock them, allowing you to change its width and height independently of one another. You can type in any of these fields to change your object's size and location. You can even do simple math (add, subtract, divide, and multiply) within the field to save yourself time. Here's a more detailed (but still simple) tutorial on that from Tuts+.

I'm going to move my square to the center of the artboard by clicking the "Horizontal Align Center" button followed by the "Vertical Align Center" button. I actually made an action with a keyboard shortcut for this, which is a nice time-saver. If you want to learn how to make custom actions, click here for a tutorial from Vectips.

4. Making HSTs

I'm going to make some HSTs for a patchwork star. Draw a 2 inch square to start. With the square selected, click CMD/CTRL + C to copy the square followed by CMD/CTRL + F to paste it directly on top of your previous square. Only the top square will be selected at this point. Change your fill color to a contrasting color. I'll use white. With the top square still selected, click the (-) key on your keyboard. Click on one of the anchor points to delete it, revealing the gray square below. Lastly, click V and select both squares, then CMD/CTRL + G to group them. Now you can move, transform, etc. multiple objects together as one.

5. Moving and Rotating Your Blocks

If your Smart guides aren't already turned on, do so now by clicking CMD/CTRL + U or checking off "Smart Guides" Under the "View" menu. The Smart Guides will help you keep objects lined up. If you find that you're still having trouble lining up objects, try zooming in on your objects, as this will help you get a more precise placement. Move your HST in place. To copy and move the HST in one step, hold ALT while dragging a selected object to make a duplicate. To duplicate multiple objects, simply select more than one object before ALT + dragging with your cursor. If you hold down SHIFT at the same time, you will only be able to move the object(s) on one axis, meaning you can keep them lined up.

My left HST needs to be a mirror image of it's current appearance. I can change this with a few different approaches:

1) Reflect it. With the object selected, right click your mouse anywhere and select Transform > Reflect. The Reflect dialog box will pop up, prompting you to select a reflection axis. (Check the "Preview" box to see what this will look like.) Click OK when it looks good.

2) Flip horizontal / vertical. Select your object. On your Transform window, click the drop down menu and select either "Flip Horizontal" or "Flip Vertical." The results are the same as reflecting, but there is no preview option. Click CMD/CTRL + Z to undo if necessary. 

3) Rotate it. There are two basic ways to do this one. One is to select your object and move your cursor near a corner until you see the cursor change to an L-shape with an arrow on each end. Drag to rotate while holding down the SHIFT key. This will allow you to rotate your block in 45° increments. Alternatively, click the drop down menu field in the bottom left corner of the Transform window. You can select specific angles to rotate this way or type in your own. Note: Make sure your reference point is set to the center of your object before rotating.

"Piece" Your Blocks Together

You can create lots of basic quilt blocks using the simple steps you've just learned. Remember, you are drawing your finished quilt, which does not include seam allowances. That means if you draw a 4 inch square, you will be cutting a 4.5 inch square when you make your quilt to allow for a .25 inch seam allowance. For basic shapes, just add .5" to the shape you've drawn in AI to get your cutting measurements.


In the future, I'd like to do a better, more detailed version of this tutorial in video format. Until then, I encourage you to play around in Illustrator. Check out my post about my favorite free resources for learning AI for helpful tutorial sites and tips. Also, I made a simple file with some basic quilt blocks (pictured below) to help get you started. You can download the AI file by clicking HERE.

Why I Started (and Stopped) Avoiding Photography

Up until a couple months ago, I was sticking my head in the sand. I wanted to be a blogger. I wanted to have a successful blog. I wanted to inspire others with my work. What I didn't want to do, was take my camera out of my camera bag.

My Pullip Doll, MJ (2009)

You would never know from my earlier posts (crappy iPad pics), that I used to be really into photography. Like SERIOUSLY into it. When I was in high school, my dad gave me his old Canon EOS Digital Rebel (300D) after he noticed me spending hours trying to take photos with my brother's point-and-shoot. I was collecting Japanese and Korean toys at the time, and it was so fun to use them to tell cute, simple stories. When my beloved dog, Lyric, was diagnosed with terminal lymphoma during my senior year of high school, I spent my last afternoon with her taking pictures. I lived my life with my camera.

This is what I looked like for most of 2009

Lyric's last photos (2009)

 I went off to college in fall 2009, and a (hand-me-down) Canon Rebel XT (350D) came with me. The sub-mirror in my 300D gave out, and my father decided to upgrade to a newer model and give me his old model once again. During my freshman year, I made my then-boyfriend's (now-husband) apartment into my makeshift photo studio where I could snap pictures of my toys for hours. I even got two photos published in my university's annual art and literary magazine.

Some of my favorite toys, Napoleon and the Re-ment desk (2010)

My sophomore year, I took my first formal photography class and learned how to shoot in manual mode better, which was tricky at first, but I've never looked back. However, I didn't like my classroom environment which saw my toy photos as meaningless twaddle. But that gets filed under my beef with the whole fine art thing. Regardless, I was forced to relegate the photos I wanted to shoot to my free time, while most of my class assignments were pictures I wasn't very excited about.

A college selfie (2011)

By my junior year, I was free from photography class, and went back to shooting what I wanted. But somehow, the magic dried up while I was away from my toys. I started sewing clothes for my dolls in an effort to rekindle my passion, but it never really ignited. Strangely, my photographer side and my crafter side didn't gel as well as I'd like. The more I sewed, the less I photographed. I didn't have an audience who I thought would appreciate my work. All my friends thought my toys were either creepy or childish. Eventually, the fun just fizzled out and I stopped taking pictures for fun.

A dress for Bonaparte (2011)

My senior year, I landed a job with campus publications as the lead photographer / photo editor / photography manager. I was in charge of four photographers, and for the first time in my life, I was the boss...and it sucked. I had to be the bad guy, tell people their photos were poorly shot, make them re-shoot, etc. I also had to take lots of photos, usually of subjects I didn't care to shoot. More importantly, I felt like I was documenting my final year of college rather than actually living it. I didn't get to experience things like my peers because I was watching through a viewfinder. Before I knew it, I dreaded pulling out my camera. Even after I upgraded to a Rebel XSi (450D), I was only taking pictures for work. When your hobby becomes your job, sometimes it takes all the fun away.

So after I graduated college, my camera mostly sat in my camera bag doing nothing. I guess I had subconsciously started to regard photography more like a chore or a burden than a hobby. Even though I stopped working as a photographer, I had not regained my appetite for it. 

When I started quilting, I took all my pictures on my iPad. When I started blogging, I told myself it was okay to use those low-quality pictures because I was a new blogger. I knew I could do better, but I avoided the truth.

Self-portrait (2011)

A couple months ago, I was feeling pretty blue. I was unhappy with myself because I felt like I wasn't measuring up to my own expectations. Not in a perfectionist kind of way though. I just felt I wasn't realizing my potential. I have a lot of goals related to my craftiness, like writing a book, designing fabric...being someone who touches and inspires others. I realized that while I was setting all these goals for myself, I was not going to meet them while I was so obviously slacking as a blogger and an artist. I knew I had to start taking more initiative. 

Writing my Heather Ross post was like my come-to-Jesus to moment. I sat down, and told myself, "This post will be different. This is the start of the new me." I wrote it honestly, putting down my words exactly as they were in my head. Then, I finally did it: I took my camera out of my bag.

I shot tons of lovely photos for Patty's blog tour! So cute!

Since then, I've set two major blogging goals for myself: write two posts per week and shoot photos I can be proud of. So far, I haven't let myself down. I even did a photoshoot with my friend Patty Sloniger for her blog tour for her new fabric collection since she did have a camera at the time. Everything turned out amazingly beautiful, and I'm so proud of myself.

In the end, it's more bittersweet though. I still haven't regained my former passion for photography. I don't know that I will ever love it like I used to. Truthfully, it saddens me deeply to see such a dramatic shift in myself. I'm hoping the fun will slowly sprout again after what feels like a winter of pretty photos. Maybe then I can find a happy balance. 

If you want to see some of my photography work, check out my portfolio website, felice-regina.com. A larger (pre-college graduation) collection can also be seen in my Flickr albums.

How to Design a Quilt in Adobe Illustrator - Settings and Preferences

Even though improv quiltmaking has become my main squeeze, I still enjoy designing my own quilt patterns to sew from. While I’ve always known there was quilt design software available, I never bothered looking further than my beloved Adobe Illustrator. For those who are new to AI, the number of settings and tools and can be overwhelming, so I wanted to give you guys a detailed walk-through of the process. I use Illustrator CS5 on PC and CS6 Mac (but I'm using the CS5 PC version for this tutorial), so your mileage may vary depending on what version you use.

This will be a multi-part tutorial to keep it from being a novel. For our first lesson, we will start off with the basic preferences and settings I use when designing quilts in Illustrator.Open your preferences by clicking CMD/CTRL + K.

General Preferences

General

Keyboard Increment - When you tap one of your direction arrow keys, the object (any path/shape you create) you selected will move by the increment you input in the field. I change the keyboard increments frequently to quickly and precisely move blocks. By default, I usually put it at .25 inch for quilt design. NOTE: If you hold SHIFT when clicking an arrow key, your object will move 10x your increment. So if my increment was set to 1 inch, clicking SHIFT + LEFT ARROW, your object will move your object 10 inches to the left.

Double Click To Isolate - I check this. It’s handy for moving an object in a group without ungrouping it (we’ll discuss grouping later).

Selection & Anchor Display

Selection & Anchor Display

Tolerance - This setting determines how easily you can select an object.The higher the value (the range is between 1-8), the easier it is to select an object. I keep the setting at 1 because I find I have difficulty selecting the correct object when it's turned up.

Object Selection by Path Only - I do not check this box. When designing quilts, your paths will all be touching one another, making it difficult to select the right shape. By keeping it unchecked, you can click in the filled area of an object to select it.

Snap to Point - Leave unchecked, for the same reasons as described under Tolerance.

Units

General - Inches. Always inches.

Stroke - Points, it’s simple. I always use a 1pt stroke.

Guides & Grid

Guides & Grid

You can turn on a graph paper-like grid by clicking CMD/CTRL + ".

Gridline every - Set to 1 inch.

Subdivisions - Set to 4. It’ll give you a grid line every .25 inches.

Grid in Back - Uncheck. This keeps your grid visible in front of your objects, which I find to be more useful.

Show Pixel Grid (Above 600% Zoom) - Check. Why not?

Smart Guides

Smart Guides

Smart guides are super helpful tools that make quilt design way easier. They're not as complicated as the look, but you get a quick overview of them here.

Display Options - Check everything!

Construction Guides - 90º & 45 º angles is the option I usually select, but if you are doing shapes that use different angles (like equilateral triangles), you may want to pick a different option.

Snapping Tolerance - This setting is like one of those online drag-and-drop dress-up games. When moving or creating objects, it will "snap" your object or points to line up with existing objects. That means you will have an easier time lining things up precisely. I set it to 10pt, but if you feel like it’s too strong of a snap, reduce it. TIP: Zoom in when lining up objects. The snapping will be more accurate when you are zoomed in closer.

Once you have your preferences set, make a new document by clicking CMD/CTRL + N. Set your artboard size to the size you want your finished quilt top to be, in inches. If you don’t know what size you want, just give yourself a square with enough space.

Now, turn on your rulers by clicking CMD/CTRL + R.

Now you’re set up to start designing quilts. In my next post, we'll learn how to start building quilt blocks.