oleFROGeyes!!!

I was whining to my sister not long ago. (Not that that is anything new, but this was important!) I was telling her I wished there was a template or spreadsheet or something, that I could use to post pictures of my quilt blocks into, so that I could see what I was doing.... without constantly handling and re-handling my blocks, and having to spread them all over the floor, etc.





















(Not to mention, having to pick the dog hair and threads off them each and every time because we are oh, so, neat and clean in this house!)

Jacque's daughter 'Elby' just graduated from college this year (summa cum laude!! yay!!) and one of her areas of expertise is web design, etc.... the conversations that were overheard by my niece gradually came around to the idea of a virtual design wall for quilters. And she was off and running with the idea!

If you click on the oleFROGeyes widget on the right side of my blog page, it will take you to MY quilt gallery. I already have three quilts up and I'm having a ball with this website she has designed. (Click on 'select a quilt' or 'view all', etc.)

It took me maybe three pictures, to learn what I needed to learn in order to resize the pix for uploading into the blocks of any quilt I design.

Elby made a cute tutorial with a narrator that I believe is the big green frog himself (and he sounds distinctly like Winston Churchill!) and I quickly figured out how to run the tutorial right beside my pictures as I edited them. After the first three pictures, I had the process down pat. I have not had to use the tutorial since then. I know exactly which values work best in the three areas that changes can be made, and I put eight blocks up tonight in no time!

For any quilt I design on the site, I can decide how many blocks I need, and in what order. Lattice? Cornerstones? Borders? I can add them in any color under the sun!
I have two simple 12-block quilts going in my gallery so far, and one monstrous Sylvia's Bridal Sampler too (140 blocks?!).

I have only been using the site a couple of weeks, but I love it!! I keep my laptop in my sewing room, so when I'm working on my SBS, for example, I am constantly picking out what colors I want the next little block to be. I can see at a glance, on the oleFROGeyes site, what colors are around the block I'm planning, and whether I need to avoid a color that has been used nearby, etc.

I put my Red, White and Blue sampler up on the site tonight, and immediately, I was struck by the fact that I have too much light blue centrally located in the quilt, and I absolutely HATE block 7. It needs more contrast and I made a huge error with one section. I will be making that one over. I'll probably switch one of the remaining blocks with that light blue for another block, such as the #3, or top right block. I can change the quilt blocks on the site and when the time comes to actually sew the blocks together, I can use the gallery picture as a reference so that hopefully it goes together just like I want it to.

All in all, I think this site is well worth the roughly $2.50 a month the membership works out to cost. And I'm not saying it just because she's my awesome niece! It's worth every penny and I'm glad she was nearby that day when I was whining to Jacque!!

P.S. I hear there may be some further modifications to the site! For example, I mentioned I'd love the ability to post blocks on point.... since Yvette, Ellen and I are thinking about doing Farmers Wife next year! (I should be bald by then, from tearing my hair out over SBS, so why not!!)

P.P.S. Look at this pretty quilt Ms. Ellen is working on!!!

I got to see these paper pieced blocks on Saturday when she and I had a fun afternoon stitching away on our projects. They are stunning!

:)