Have you heard of PreQuilt? It’s a mind-blowing app made just for quilters, and it launched this summer. The concept is simple, but powerful.

You know how some quilts can change completely just by rotating blocks? Or how about the way that color placement (or value placement, especially) can change the look of a quilt dramatically? The PreQuilt app lets you play around with these effects digitally, so you can experiment with lots of ideas. Yay!!

As soon as I heard about PreQuilt, I rushed over for a try. Go ahead, do it! You can create a quilt from scratch right here. But you might prefer to get the hang of the app by altering an existing pattern. You can experiment with the Circus Tent quilt or play with Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. Be sure to try “remix” with that one!

Or… you could try out PreQuilt with one of my patterns. My Cascade pattern has been developed as a PreQuilt app. Woohoo! To explore Cascade with PreQuilt you’ll want to select the “Colour Book” tab, where you’ll be able to change the colors to almost anything you could imagine!

I always felt that Cascade was difficult to re-imagine in alternative colors. A blank color sheet is nice, but really doesn’t hold a candle to an interactive app like PreQuilt. In a 3-4 minutes, I’ve remade my Cascade quilt on PreQuilt using the color menu on left. This version feels refreshingly delicate. Mmm…. And I can download the image to save for future reference.

What’s cool is that the color changes automatically follow certain pattern rules so that you’ll still be able to use the pattern easily. The fabric list, cutting diagrams and sewing directions all hold true. Isn’t that smart!

If you’ve purchased Cascade pattern from me in the past, consider giving it a fresh go-round via the Cascade PreQuilt app. If you don’t currently own the pattern, you can purchase it directly through the PreQuilt pattern shop. We share proceeds on any sales made there, which I think this is a great way to support the app and our creativity all at once!

Thanks to Laura and Gar for letting me become part of the PreQuilt story. It’s an honor. I’m so glad you’re investing your programming talents in the quilting industry and wish you great success!

xo,

Rachel