Memorial Quilt

A few weeks ago, I met a customer who wanted to have a quilt made from clothes worn by her partner who had passed recently. These kind of projects always make my eyeballs sweat a little – I never know what I’m getting myself into when working with used clothes. Plus, this one was emotionally charged. BUT, I was interested in doing something I haven’t done before and after meeting the customer, I knew she would be great to work with and maybe the quilt would help her get through this period in her life with a smile.

So, she gave me a box of clothes and we found a pattern she liked. The pattern is from Laurie Shifrin – it’s called Crosswalk and it’s for a table runner and placemats. So right off, I know there is going to be some “design as I go” in this quilt. I went to The Quilting Loft and talked with Laurie about how to convert this pattern into a lap-sized quilt and her recommendation was to create three panels and sew them together.

Original Pattern

The 3-panel mock up

The customer asked if the original design could be done in a lap size – instead of 3 panels, just one panel but broken up with the three slices. So that’s what we are going to do.

The box of clothes had T-Shirts, ties, running gear and a kimono. All very subtle colors so even though there isn’t a color theme, they are all going to look very nice together. The biggest challenge is there isn’t enough of most of the fabrics to create a row the size of a lap quilt. So we decided that the rows could have a couple different fabrics in them – as long as the colors in the row were coordinated. It will create a little extra interest (or chaos if you want to look at it that way), but every row will be something that looks good together. The solid borders on both sides of the slices are going to be from dress slacks – beautiful olive and black material.

Here are some pictures of the original garments and the resulting rows:

And here is where we are now… all the garments have been made into rows.

The next step is to meet with the customer so she can help put the rows in the order they will be in the quilt. There turned out to be more material than we expected so this could be a larger quilt if she wants. We have already talked about putting a border on this quilt – to help tie everything together and make it look finishes/framed. The border will be a great place to put the patches her partner has from working for the forest service (rather than trying to figure out how to make them part of the pieced quilt).

More pictures to come, I’m sure.

Lava Meets Sky Quilt

Now that the quilt top is done and we've all had some time to think about how to finish this quilt, we met to select the 3 B: border, backing and binding.

Fortunately, Laurie Shifrin was at the Quilting Loft and her help was instrumental in designing borders that will not only make this quilt big enough for a queen sized bed, but they also put a logical end to all the angles (just my opinion).

Its a little hard to explain how the two borders switch places so I did this little drawing - forgive my lack of skill with drawing tools. I think I could have just sewn the borders on the quilt and taken a picture in the time it took me to create this drawing. BUT, it was a great exercise and will give the customer a chance to see what we are talking about.

The binding is going to be the same blue as the border so it will blend in some places and pop in others - that will add a nice element to the finished quilt.

We narrowed down the options for the back but didn't make a final decision. It is definitely going to be one of Robert Kaufman's Chambrays - just not sure which one. Right now, the options are light blue - which to the customer looks like grey so that's not likely to win - Cardinal (94) - which is my favorite - or maybe Boysenberry (253) - which is a nice combination of red and  blue.

The thread for the quilting is going to be red and blue variegated so any of the backings will look like show off the design nicely.

I'll get to work putting the borders on. By the time that's done, I'm sure the decision about the back will be made and we can start talking about the quilting - what fun!

And speaking of Quilting, there are thousands of quilt designs for a long-arm machine. The general rule that I like to follow is that if the piecing is angular, the quilt design is curved and visa versa but the ultimate decision is for the customer. Just to inspire you (and the customer), take a look at the free designs I found - and go from there.

Stars and Strips Quilt

I'm happy to say that this quilt is now done and ready for delivery. Although the colors aren't my favorites, I love the way this turned out. I used variegated red/white/blue thread for the quilting and just did straight (well almost straight) lines 3/4" apart.

My computer gave up a few weeks ago and it took me some time to find a new one and get used to the new systems. But, lucky for me, I don't need a computer to quilt so here's a quick update on what's happening...

Lava Meets Sea Quilt

This quilt has been an exercise in trust - at least for me. The idea came from a blog written by a rather experienced quilter so not very many details. And the customer moved out of the area just as I was getting started so we've been sending pictures and emails to keep on track. Several times, I just trusted that my instincts were going to work out and today, I finished the top. I have to say, it's the first time I've felt this level of pride in something I made.

For this customer, the next step is to decide on the backing and binding material. The quilt is supposed to be queen sized but as you can see from the pictures where it's on the bed, it doesn't hang over the edges too much. The option would be to put a border on it - wasn't in the original discussion but that would make it wider if that's of interest.

Because this quilt top is so "busy", I'd probably go with a back that is simple, maybe even wide enough so there doesn't have to be a seam. And the binding on the blog was black but it could be any of the colors in the quilt if you wanted to emphasize one. OR we could do a pieced binding and include several of your favorites.

Here are some pictures of the original lay out - it took quite a while to figure out how to show off this beautiful material.

After fussing for quite a while, I had to just trust all the pieces were in the right place and start sewing. Here is the final quilt top all sewing together, ahh!

Here  it is on our queen sized bed. Plenty of length for pillows but not so much on the sides.

Stars and Stripes quilt

A friend of mine sent her son to Army training this fall and when she returned from his graduation in December, she told me the story of the honor he was given. It's called Solider of the Cycle - which to my understanding means that of all the soldiers in that training class (over 200), he most closely represented what being a solider meant.

The next day, I was wandering around on Pinterest and saw a quilt that was red, white and blue and immediately dug through my stash and pulled some material together. This is the first quilt I've done without taking pictures at different stages, I didn't have anything more than the picture on Pinterest and I didn't even put it into the database until I was done with the top and back.

All the time I was making this one, I was thinking this is kind'a a silly idea. But then Mom sent her son pictures and his reply told me this is going to be a well used quilt.

Here are pictures of the top and back. I'm going to do the quilting myself - just straight lines. He is now in school - he's studying to be a doctor - but will be home in May for a break. Don't know if I'll be able to get it done by then but I always work better with a deadline than without.

Other Quilts In Motion

The Wedding Patchwork quilt is now done and in use. The owner was really happy with it and I was quite happy she liked it.

 

 

The Wedding Quest quilt just came back from the long-arm. It is really pretty with the custom quilting all around the blocks the guests signed. I'll get the binding on today and start working on getting it tacked down.

 

And, the Kaleidoscope quilt is now done - in the wash as we speak. I get to deliver it in May when I go to Juneau for a visit with my Sister.

 

To the Manor Born came back last week from the long-arm. It isn't spoken for so I've put off working on it until the custom work is done. It has the binding already on it so just need to get it tacked down and it'll be ready to sell.

 

 

Busy, Busy, Busy!

 

Lava meets sky quilt - still planning

OK, after some valuable feedback from this customer, we are ready for step two in the planning phase.

I was able to find 9 new fabrics to add to the pile - here's a picture:

I got 12 cut pieces from each = 96. That brings the total of cut squares up to 384. If you remember, we need 396. We are still 12 short - and may I just say argh :)

And then I found a quilt on Pinterest (what would I do without it). I pinned it to Quilt Magic - in Motion (don't seem to be able to do a screen shot and get it into the blog - sorry. And thought, what a great idea...

We could use 9 cut pieces from the new fabrics - so that's the same number of cut squares from all the other fabrics. This would give us 360 cut squares - 40 short of the original 396. BUT... if we were to do only 21 rows and 17 columns (1 short of the original design), we would have enough cut squares. Then we'd add a border across one side and either the top or bottom that is solid with a couple of the half-triangle squares - like the quilt from Pinterest.
.
What do you think? Are you willing to go asymmetrical?

Here are pictures of all the cut pieces - the new fabric has been added so you can see the variation in color. I went heavy one the dark reds like you mentioned which will add some great depth to the finished piece. 
 

Lava meets sky quilt

I got to start working on this quilt yesterday and am writing this blog for the customer so she can make the decisions necessary to move forward with the project.

First a few definitions:

• A queen size quilt is typically 90" x 108"
• A cut piece - is the first cut from the original fabric
• A block - is what happens when you put the cut pieces together
• A row is made up of a certain number of blocks and then you sew all the rows together and get a quilt top
• To get a queen size quilt, we need 22 rows with 18 blocks in each row
• We need 396 blocks to make this quilt top

Lets start with the fabric you gave me:

• There are 8 Fat Quarters of Blue and 9 of Red that you pulled out of the packages. These pictures are of the cut pieces - 5 1/2 x 5 1/2.
• 
• Each Fat Quarter gives us 9 cut pieces. This means, we get 153 cut pieces.
• To make the blocks, you put two cut pieces together, cut them in half and sew the two halves together to make a half-triangle block.
• 

Non selected material:
There are at total of 27 other Fat Quarters in the bundles you gave me.

 

• 7 Orange
• 6 Yellow
• 2 Black and very dark blue
• 6 Gray
• 6 Light Blue
• 

Decision to be made:

• By only using only 17 of the 44 Fat Quarters, we get less than half the block needed for the size of quilt you want. (396 -153 =243)
• The shades in the 17 Fat Quarters selected will provide some depth to the design but it won't look like the original picture which has some lighter cut pieces in it - but I think you've already agreed to this - just need to be sure you understand your quilt isn't going to have the same pazazz as the pattern.
• Do you want me to get more of the 17 selected Fat Quarters so there is enough for the whole quilt? Or do I use some of the Fat Quarters I already have? Or a combination of these options - you could let me know which ones from the non-selected group you want to include and we'll see where that gets us?

Wedding Patchwork Quilt

What a difference a border (or two) makes. When I took the finished top over to The Quilting Loft to meet with the customer, I knew it wasn't large enough to fit onto a queen sized bed but there wasn't any material left to make it bigger. The boarder was going to need to be 10" or more to make the quilt the right size.

Fortunately, Getting to pick out material at The Loft presents endless solutions. It was fun to watch the owner of this patchwork piece pull bolts of material off the shelf and put them back. It did take bit of time but she selected a wonderful yellow and cream flower print for both the border and the back. To extend the border, we decided to add a round of the grey that we used in the top.

Although this isn't my style, I like how the borders pulled everything together and made the quilt look like it was planned to be this way all along.

Now that it is done (front and back), we'll hook up with the Long-arm quilter and get it in the queue. Can't wait to see what quilt design the customer selects.

Top with borders

Top with borders

Back and Border

Lava Meets Sky

This is a quilt I put on my Beautiful Material board because I really liked the look of it but had no desire to actually make it. Good lesson: careful what you put on Pinterest. A customer might just fall in love with it and ask you to make one.

I got the material the other day - two fat quarter bundles of solids from Robert Kaufman. Beautiful stuff. The customer wants the material pre washed - which is a first for me. And, she isn't fond of some of the colors in the bundles. So I sorted out the ones she wants to use, pinned the bundles together and washed them. It will take a bit of time to get them all ironed but once that's done, I'll start cutting.

This is a deceptive pattern. It is just 5" squares put into half-triangles. The interesting task is figuring out which two colors to put together to come out with the flow that is represented in the original quilt.

Should be interesting.

Miscellaneous projects

The Wedding Guest quilt is off to the Long-arm quilter. We were very fortunate to get to work with Angie (the owner of the Quilting Loft) when the customer and I met to make the quilting decisions. Angie recommended a customized quilt design rather than using one of the computerized one. This way, she can quilt around the writing. She's going to do a leaf design to mirror the design that's in the signature blocks. The thread is a variegated cream/wheat that will show up once in a while but mostly it will just add texture. It will take a while for it to be done but it will definitely be worth it.

The Manor Grown quilt is now ready for the Long-arm. I know I said I was going to do the quilting my self but since then, I've gotten a couple payments from customers so I'm going to let the professionals do the quilting. I got lucky and found a beautiful piece of material for the back. It was a piece left over from Christmas but isn't a real Christmas'ie pattern. It will be a great back for this one. What you can't see in the pictures it the slight sparkle this material has to it - great stuff for only $6 a yard.

Wedding Guest Quilt

After short break to allow for the Holiday festivities - I can't imagine how hectic it is to go through Christmas with three pre-schoolers and then I found out the owner of this quilt also sings and is responsible for a number of performances during the holidays; busy busy busy! Anyway, we got together this week along with the Long-arm quilter and got this quilt in line for some custom quilting. the quilting will go around the writing in a vine/leaf pattern. Should be really beautiful. It is a long queue so won't get it back until late-February or March so the quilt should be ready for Easter.

Wedding Patchwork Quilt

I can't say that I've enjoyed this quilt top but I certainly have learned a lot by doing it. I got together with the owner last week to show her what I'd gotten done so far and much to my relief, she really liked it. Since it isn't my favorite style of quilting, I was really nervous that she wouldn't like it either. Thank goodness we all have different taste.

We picked out the material for the border - a beautiful medium grey - and I replaced several of the blocks in the top with this grey so it would look like that was the plan all along. Then, to make the quilt long enough to fit on top a queen sized bed, we added a couple rows that are mostly the grey with a few of the small squares along the row.

The border will be 10 inches - a little much for just one color given that the top is so busy so I'm suggesting we place the rest of the material squares around the border at random; sort'a make it look like they are floating.

Here are a few pictures that probably tell the story better than I do:

The last section - bottom

Top is finally done

Hard to see the details but here it all is

To the Manor Grown Quilt

While I was waiting to get together with these customers to move their projects to the next step, I had a little time to work on something I'd put together several months ago. I knew I didn't have enough material to make the quilt as large as the pattern - it was for a double bed and I had enough material for a Nap-quilt. And I was so captivated by the material and pattern, I forgot to take pictures along the way.

So here is what I ended up with. I found a great piece of material for the back and plan to do the quilting myself - something really simple so it doesn't distract from the material.

Lava Meets Sky Quilt

My photographer gets paid in quilts - no surprise there. She and her daughter have been working on collecting material for a quilt for her daughter (who's just graduated from college and has moved to California to live with her boyfriend and continue her path toward being a doctor). She found a picture on my Beautiful Material board and asked if I'd make that quilt for her. Of course the stuff on that board is what I like to look at but never intended to make so I had to give myself a little pep talk before accepting the challenge.

Now I have the material - all Robert Kaufman solids - and the blog which isn't really a pattern but gives me enough so I can make it happen. Once the decks are cleared of a few other projects, I'll start cutting. This one has several hundred half-triangle squares so it might take a little while to get it just right. Something tells me, my husband and his sharp eye for color and design is going to be involved in this project.

It's always better when I have a project just waiting to get started - helps me focus and get the nearly done ones done!