Bed Sized Quilt to take to Ohio
rodezzy
| Posted in Quilting and Home Decor on
O.K. I just wanted to start this thread concerning my new quilt challenge. I will start assigning fabric from my girlfriends mothers clothing. This time I will use it all up. My first thought is a Bargello quilt, I’m asking for ideas if you have any.
I also thought of a crazy quilt, but I have to see what my Quilt Design software does with that since I am planning to utilize my Quilt Design software to help design this quilt.
Rodezzy, Fiber Artist
Replies
O.K. I did not find a quilt block in my quilt design wizard, but I did find a block I could use that was scrappy, but not too much. It is easy to do and will give me a dramatic design. I've cut 1-1/4 inch strips of the garment fabric and 5 inch strips of the batik fabric. But the next strip I will cut a 5 1/2 inch strip for the batik fabric.
This block is called Roman Strip or Sunlight and Shadow. I found the pattern on Blockcentral.com and Quilt Blocks Galore. Actually Quilt Blocks Galore was the one that you should check out to see a version of a finished quilt with this block.
I then take my 6 1/2 inch square ruler and cut 6.5 X 6.5 blocks for the quilt. It's simple, quick and I make all the strip sets first and then cut the blocks. I will use the extra pieces from the strip sets somewhere in the quilt. Maybe in the borders. I'll just do the strip sets first. Check out the beginnings photos. he he I'm such a skitzo.....I will do some knitting this weekend Katina, ....I promise.
I just had to do something else for now and this does have to get started. I have to be finished by the no later than the Monday of Thanksgiving week. giggle. I have to.
Edited 9/25/2009 12:30 am ET by rodezzy
Rodezzy,
Please make sure to show us the finished project. It is going to be real interesting to see it complete.
You are a "Sewing" "Machine" (pun intended) ....................Yikes you are a real worker. Good for you.
Heather in Calgary
I love making scrap strip or string quilts as they are also called! The first picture had a great piece of red plaid and the first thought out of my mind is "I want that". I love the color red. I have found when making strip quilts that if you use strips with one color such as blue in any amount in each of the strips, you have a quilt that 'reads' blue. The same for pinks, green, etc. But if you use a variety of colors throughout and ONE very bright red strip in each of the blocks the red will dominate and really perk up the quilt. I love red, did I mention that?!? LOL. I made one of those kinds of quilts but the whole block was strips for my FIL to thank him for the immense help he was in building our house. It had one strip of red in the middle of each block and the quilt really popped. I did it as a quilt as you go and much easier than wrestling the dinosaur that I'm working on now.
For sure want to see the finished quilt. Scrap quilts of any kind are my favorite quilts. Even though a meticulously planned quilt with all matching colors can look magnificent, scrap quilts are my love. I love having leftover cotton from any kind of project to use in quilts. The one I'm doing for my BIL has fabric spanning 40 years of my sewing (from my teens)!
Thanks ladies for all you encouragement and help, I'm on a mission, I certainly will share the process and the finish. Didn't work on it this weekend, buy it will be worked on this week.
It's looking great so far! I love this design! Can't wait to see this "grow" into another great Rodezzy original. You are truly a fiber artist, so many talents, so many beautiful creations...thanks for sharing the photos and the info.
I am in a sort of puzzle on the quilt. I will be losing too much fabric with the process I started out with, but I still want the half-square triangle squares for the project.
Last night I just sewed the strips of clothing fabric together in five strip per strip set. I believe what I will have to do is cut the batik in strips the same size as the clothing strips and make half square triangles the tried and true way. Following Mary Ellen Hopkins PPM's (personal private measurements) I'm going to have to do the calculations to cut both strips to their PPM's and sandwich them RSF and draw a line through the diagonal of the square. Sew a quarter inch seam on each side and cut on the line to make two even half-square triangles.
So, tonight I will continue sewing the clothing strips so I will have a lot of the strips sets done. It goes faster actually when you organize one step at a time. I'm glad I flushed out this problem early, because after I made the first squares, I knew I was losing too much fabric with that process. I am aiming to finish up the clothing fabric with this project and a queen size quilt with appox. 5.5 inch squares (1st guess) will take over 200 or 300 squares to create a queen sized top. I also have another coordinating batik to use in this project from my batik group. I also have some of the batiks cut already for borders.
O.K. thanks for listening and please give your opinions on the process I've just described. I needed to talk this through, I was dreaming about it and my every thought has been on this situation. It will stay on my mind until I make the first block from my probable solution and am satisfied with the process.
I just thought ..... after I get my measurements correct, I can use my Quilt Design software to give me the number of squares needed, juggle the design and decide how to set the block design of the whole quilt, and put on the borders. So it will be of use after all. It does have half-square triangle blocks and I can use black for one side and just a print for the other side of the triangle to represent the clothing fabric.
Edited 10/1/2009 9:28 am ET by rodezzy
Edited 10/1/2009 9:54 am ET by rodezzy
Edited 10/1/2009 9:54 am ET by rodezzy
Sounding board is what we are. You are most welcome. tee hee hee. sometimes we just need to think outloud. cathy
And, until I connected with this forum, I didn't have the option of a sounding board when I needed it. The main body of my quilt guild is retired and I can't meet with them during the day on Tuesdays & Thursdays when they have their sewing sessions. Our once a month mtg. is for guild business, and its hard to catch some one to talk to when you are thinking of something. With this forum, I can type it out loud and I know I will get a response that day and some days after. And perspectives from a large group from all over. So, this has been a great tool for me. I really appreciate you all.
From what I saw of your quilt, if you take the plain fabric and cut it into squares and then bisect it into triangles you would get the solids out of the way in the most economic manner. Then take you strips of fabric and do flip and stitch sewing, you can trim those strips to size. Ie. sew your longest strip right sides together to the long edge of the triangle and then flip it open, finger press down, sew your next strips (shorter) right sides together to the first strip, flip open and finger press down then the next strips and then maybe one more. Trim to a perfect square and you've got your block. You may need to trim an inch or less on each end of the strips, but you also don't have to have all strips equally long to use them. Even 3-4" long strips will work as the last strip in the block. This is a perfect block for a scrap quilt with an unknown quantity of fabric such as you are using. If you are unsure of using that bias side of the sold fabric, cut out squares of newspaper and use them as a foundation to help hold your fabric in place and help you eyeball the next size strip you will need. I hope this makes sense to you. I've made several quilts with this idea only using strips for the whole block. It is how I use up my oddball leftovers that can't be cut into real quilt pieces. Give a holler if you need more help.
I wish I could go to quilt guild but I can't tolerate the sitting around and I HATE business meetings. I want to talk quilts there not boring business stuff.
Thanks for the suggestion. I was on the computer last night and completed the visual design for the quilt. The process for making the blocks I'm doing will eliminate the bias edges.
Good, have fun!
The process that I described earlier to create my half-square triangle blocks with this project worked out very well so far. The stripes are going in a different direction, but I don't really care about that. It will still be great!
I have made 41 blocks now and they are 5.5 inch blocks. I have made another strip set of the clothing fabric, and cut 6 inch strips of the batik. I get about 14 blocks per strip now. Not three like before. This makes me very happy. My project will move along very quickly now. I created a design the layout of the blocks on my Quilt Design software and I will need 100 blocks.
And after making all of these blocks, I will still have lots of clothing fabric left that hasn't even been cut into strips yet. Geeze....I didn't realize you can get so much fabric from a few articles of clothing. Maybe because I am know using it solely for the quilt, it seems like a lot. Oh, well, I'll try to use as much as possible.
Edited 10/4/2009 12:33 am ET by rodezzy
As of today, I have 91 blocks made.
I will make the other 9 blocks tomorrow. I have to square them all up to make sure they are all the same size. The first ones I made are bigger than the ones I'm making now.
This is truly an adventure. I'm trying to make it look really pretty and interesting. Talk at you the next time I have time to get on here. I have lots to do.
Wow - you're going like your fingers are on fire! You'll have that quilt finished in no time. Good for you!
Gloria
Hi Gloriasews, so good to hear from you. Yea, I'm on it, I don't have time to fool around on this one. November will be here before I know it and making a queen sized quilt is no joke.
But I'm real happy the way its turning out. What have you been up to dear lady. Have you unpacked everything, its about a year since you moved by now....right? giggle.
Always glad to hear your voice. smile.
Oh, Rodezzy, did you have to ask? :) And did you have to remember how long it's been? :) I've been procrastinating, so, no, I still haven't unpacked everything & am still looking for creative places to put/hide things. This week, I'm in a rush trying to get some of the worse chores out of the way, as I'm having a cataract removed on Friday & will be a bit limited as to what I can do for a week or so (lifting/bending) - then, I'll be starting my Christmas sewing, I hope. Right now, I'm working on some cotton yarn dishcloths (both knitted & crocheted - different patterns), then I'll be crocheting slippers, then more challenging things. I also have to make myself a hood/scarf combination before it gets too cold. I was planning to make it out of fleece, but can't find the right colours, so it'll probably be knitted or crocheted (I'll do the hood part in 2 layers, for warmth, & so that the lining will be a different colour.
Oh sweetheart, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to stress you. I still have things packed and I've been in my apartment for 8 yrs. So, don't feel rained on....giggle. We just don't need those things, that's what I say....he he he.
Sounds like you have your hands full, my prayers are for smooth sailing on the cataract operation. All my best, and all the best from above to go with you. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
You'll be back to doing all the lovely things you do for you and your loving family in just a few. So, relax and take it all in your own stride. I was just being nosy...giggle.
Not to worry, Rodezzy - you weren't stressing me out. I'm stressing myself out & feeling guilty for not unpacking - but, I feel better now that you admitted that you still have stuff in boxes for 8 years. Yeah, I'll get to it eventually.
Thanks for the good & kind thoughts for my eye. I'm sure all will be well. I do plan to take it easier next week & sew, crochet, sort through stuff - things that I can handle sitting down (haha). I did do the heavy things this week (cleaning windows, cleaning the oven & emptying my flower pots on the balcony & I'll get groceries tomorrow), so I feel good about that. I'll move some boxes tomorrow so that I can unpack some more & not have to lift them, so I should get a fair bit done, I hope. So things are looking up.
Gloria
oh, nice! The batic really balances out the clothing strips fabric. I really like the triangles you are doing and then into squares. So, are you doing 100 squares total? 5 and 1/2 inches each?
I think that gold fabric is going to look gorgeous on you! It will make a pretty quilt. What are you going to do with the denim?
Thanks sweet heart. I love the batik in there too. It does balance the clothing fabrics nicely, I have high hopes for the quilt. I've been playing around on my computer with layouts for it, I had one set, and then I was out surfing the web and found some other possibilities. Now I have several layouts save in my Quilt Design software. I was going to do 100 squares, but the oblong nature of the bed seems to dictate that I use a 9 blocks wide and 10 long. I can determine the measurements and determine whether I will want sashings and how many. I've also got include the measurements for the border(s). I will start figuring that out soon. I want to get the quilt top pieces all sewn, borders cut and start to determine how I will quilt this bugger. giggle.
I'm leaning on quilting sections at a time and then putting it all together. I got this strategy from Georgia Bonesteel. It will create a second design on the other side which will give my friends two quilts....yes two guilts in one.....giggle. I'm a pistol. he he he I'm loving it. So when she gets tired of one side, she can flip it over and have a whole new quilt with a complete different feel and fabric. I'm so happy now making this quilt. Its all coming together.
Oh, I haven't decided what I'm going to make with the denim yet, but it will be outer wear. (and don't spread it around.......but.....I might even line it!) shhhhhhhh
Edited 10/5/2009 3:06 pm ET by rodezzy
Line it...........pshaw...........lol lol
Heather in Calgary
he he he you never know about me! he he he....what a world...what a world!!!
It sounds as if that quilt designing software has really inspired you. So many possibiliteis to try out on the computer instead of having to lay the fabric all out. Too cool!
Is the two sided quilt like Betty Cotton does? Cotton Theory Quilting? I saw that on Sewing With Nancy and then went to see Betty Cotton and her daughter out here, they brought alot of their quilts and it was cool to see how they do them. I still havent done one myself.
There are several techniques. I'd love to learn each one some day since it is so hard to quilt a big quilt.
Hi Rodezzy,
I've been away a couple of weeks, and have enjoyed catching up on the progress of your quilt. It looks striking and happy, like I've come to expect all of your work to come. I am breathlessly waiting your finished masterpiece!
All, I've also enjoyed your comments too! Missed you all.
Hi Rodezzy I love your work I havent been here for a while i'm just moving back to Chicago from Lasvegas home after 1year i so happy to see your work again keep up the good work
Thank you, I'm glad you're coming back to the windy city. Are you sure you want to leave the warmth of Vegas.
I'm also back to sewing on the quilt to take to Ohio in TWO AND ONE HALF WEEKS YIKES.
I have almost all of the large main blocks made, I'm pushing myself because after all the sewing and craziness I created for myself for the month of October, I'm a tired of sewing, but I have to get back into the groove. I worked on it Friday night a little. Then Saturday night, a little. And Sunday afternoon...a little. Giggle. I need to work on it A LOT!!!! Give me back my motivation. I get this way sometimes. I bought more fleece this weekend. A lovely light green, and a varigated yarn for a knitted scarf/shawl to go with.
Oh, and the large block comes out to be 12.5 by 12.5 blocks. These are the blocks I'm almost finished with. I should have done it this weekend, but I was unmotivated to sew this weekend. But once I get these done, the top should come together rather quickly.
Edited 11/9/2009 9:32 am ET by rodezzy
I just finished putting together the blocks into their 12.5 by 12.5 size. 24 blocks in all. Whew. I was trying to take pictures, but my camera was not cooperating. I put in new batteries and it still wasn't cooperating. So, I'll send pictures as soon as I get it together. I printed the representation of the quilt from the Quilt Design on my computer and scanned it into my pictures. So here is a picture representing the design of the quilt. I'll take pictures of the real quilt as soon as I can. Remember, this is the quilt design from my software program, not the real quilt. This will give you a look of my proposed "finished quilt".
Can't wait to see the Rodezzy version! It's a stunning pattern.
Me too ... giggle. It's on a slow boil this week. Got to get down on it next week. I'm done with the main blocks, so now basically I am ready for the main top construction. I have decided to do a quilt-as-you-go row construction for ease of quilting and quicker assembly. This is the hardest part for me. I love making the design for the tops, but quilting the sandwich is a chore to me. The method I am using I learned watching Georgia Bonesteel when she aired on TV. "Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel" was the name of her program. She is a marvelous quilter and gave extensive information and instruction through her shows. I have tapped several. So, she is my inspiration for the quilt-as-you-go process of quilting the quilt in sections.
>I love making the design for the tops, but quilting the sandwich is a chore to me.<
Same here! I love making the tops and then I just want to be done. Are you hand quilting it? That's what Georgia did. I never liked handquilting although I like hand embroidery. I have a wallhanging that I started to quilt probably 15 years ago still waiting to be finished. I either have to finish it by hand or rip out the hand stitching and machine embroider it, so it sits as a UFO :(
No I'm not going to hand quilt it. OMG That would be even a bigger chore. Georgia did both hand and machine quilting. The quilt-as-you-go process is usually machine quilting. I just put the sashing on the first horizontal row. I don't believe I will finish before I get to Ohio. But I will take it with and work on it there.
I didn't realize that she did machine quilting as all the books of her's that I used to have featured the hand quilting. Somehow I didn't think hand quilting was going to be in your agenda, but since you blaze through things so fast I thought perhaps you are speedy in that area also!
I used to record her show everyday and she does both. I tried it, and don't like it.
Rodezzy, this is the most stunning quilt I've ever seen! Please take a photo of the finished version. I'm curious to see what it looks like!
~Tracy
Thanks Tracy, I didn't finish it, but I took it with me to Ohio on Thanksgiving. I didn't get to work on it, but they did love it. So, I'm aiming for it to be sent to them for Christmas. he he.
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