Back to quilting

It's time to get back to some quilting.
I finished the ruler class sample and I promised myself that once it was done that I could finally work on one of my crystal mandalas. I've been waiting way to long to do this so I got started marking it this week.

This project started a couple of months ago by planning the quilting structure. This is how I plan all of my quilts. It's a little old school to not do this on the computer but I can't justify drawing software that I simply won't use that often. A package of page protectors is pretty cheap.

I started by printing a color image of the quilt and then I try to make myself come up with at least 3 designs. That makes sure that I get the most obvious one out of the way and, possibly, I come up with something a little more creative.

Once I come up with a basic framework that I like I print a quarter section of the quilt and work out a few details. I know that at this point I will change things as I mark and quilt the quilt but at least I have some sort of plan that might help prevent my usual quilting paralysis after the quilt is loaded.

Next it was time to mark the quilt and my favorite tool for this is Renee Haddadin's Amazing Rays. This one is the Mini-Ray and makes a circle up to 35.5" in diameter. There's also a larger one that does up to 79". I use this think for all sorts of projects including marking things on my mosaic wall.

You pin the center disc in the center of your quilt and the ruler fits on it and spins around. I taped it in place so that my  degree markings stayed lined up properly.

Crayola Washable Markers are my favorite marking tool. The marking tip doesn't fit in the hole of the ruler so I just hold the marker next to the to the hole on the edge of the ruler. I like that I have a lot of colors so if, as in this case, I changed my mind about a mark I can switch to a darker color for the final mark.

Sometimes I get so many marks on it that I need to draw in some rough quilting guidelines so I don't forget. It looks kind of a mess but it will be OK. I think.
I need to get it loaded and start quilting to find out. I'm not going to stress about it. This one is for practice. If it turns out bad I'll cut it up into placemats or something. I just need to get started!