quick creative quilting
Get the ebook now!
A friend recently suggested a use for my daughter's first wardrobe, which I've dutifully saved in the back of the closet, and lugged on two long distance relocations. Turns out she's done the same thing with her daughter's first clothes, and we've decided to make memory quilts. This playtime project preserves my little girl's everyday playclothes for no other reason than that they are hers.
Having been raised in a somewhat non-sentimental household, I jumped at the chance to engage in something that could possibly boost child emotional development at the same time that it provided a way for my daughter to feel connected to happy childhood events. I suppose it’s my way of compensating for something I always wished I had. By the time I was born, the fascination with baby girls was past, and whatever I used and wore was handed off to Goodwill when I was finished with it.
The project lets you conserve storage space by cutting those favorite 0-3 month outfits into workable squares—or if you’re an experienced quilter, you may feel confident experimenting with different shapes. I’ve never tried this before, so I don't want to complicate it with my perfectionist tendencies. I want to turn this into something we can do with our daughters—it always surprises me how young children can take to things that we assume are beyond them.
I went through the clothes to separate them according to “cuttability.” Fearful of violating airline luggage allowances, and mindful of movers' square footage guidelines, I’ve unwittingly reduced the cherished collection little by little; this last relocation I was so desperate to conform to the rules that I left behind many of the pieces I had faithfully saved. Our having been in the Caribbean this past hurricane season further persuaded me to fork over even more of the little wardrobe to children whose homes (and wardrobes) had been destroyed. The pieces that remain are so few in number that I find I cannot bear to take the scissors to any of them.
And so the playtime project will consist less of quilting, and more of time spent sitting on the floor, arranging tiny high-tops, Mary Janes and workboots into shadow boxes. There’s also the first jean jacket, overalls and the dress Little One wore to “school” when she was four months old. All of these are small enough to pass for doll clothes, and therein lies their preciousness. The rest are tiny crew neck sweaters, a little rain slicker, and the pajamas she wore in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit. These, with selected Boston Globe front pages will go into a trunk alongside the baby book (volumes I and II), the photo albums of the first years, and The Scrapbook; to be opened with great fanfare on some birthday after "we" have reached the Age of Appreciability.
Tricia Wellington
...Author: Tricia Wellington
|
1. Bellwether Dry Goods 2. What's on TV 3. Baby Lock® Sewing and Embroidery Machines 4. SEW FAST SEW EASY • stitch and bitch cafe 5. Embroidery and Quilting Thread and Supplies from Sulky® of America 6. Cabbage Rose Quilting and Gifts 7. Sewing pattern books, learn to sew, sewing kits, cloth doll patterns 8. Fabric Trade Shows,Textile Trade Fairs,Fabric Textiles Exhibitions,Trade Eve... 9. Books & Videos - Fiber Arts 10. site map 11. Q & A - Help Along the Way. Questions from Readers. Answers to Help. 12. PRIMEDIA Enthusiast Media 13. Quilt Projects Machine Singer Book Quilting Patterns 14. Sewing Expressions for your sewing, quilting and embroidery requirements 15. 16. Stencil Books 17. Customer Contest - The Sewing Machine Shop 18. McCall's Quilting Special Publications 19. Textile/Quilting 20. Quilting Books 21. CRAFT TV - Welcome to your craft show video magazine! 22. Artisans 23. Creative Quilting Ideas - Discover Quilting Secrets, Patterns, and Resources 24. Fat Quarter Shop Quilting Links - Online Quilting Fat Quarter Bundles, Quilt... 25. "Roof Razor Roof Rake, Model# RRCOMP" 26. Fiberarts Magazine > Current Issue 27. Arts & Crafts - ICQ Interest Groups - ICQ.com 28. Creative Stitches & Crafting Alive 29. Sewing, Quilting, Beading, and Art Magazines We Read and Collect 30. House of White Birches - Corporate - History
|
Timely help for quick creative quilting
About Quilting I'm not inserting an image of the Milky Way quilt for a couple of reasons. It's difficult to see the design as a small thumbnail, plus I've included two very different color and color value arrangements within the pattern, and don't have room to display both. Milky Way is one of many quilt blocks based on the traditional Friendship Star design, but Milky Way's unique alternating stars won't emerge when blocks are simply sewn side-by-side. The method used to make them appear is easy though, and it's simple to create all sorts of layouts, from subtle to dramatic. Related Quilt Patterns Milky Way Quilt Pattern originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 13:48:57. Permalink | Comment | Email this Thirties Pinwheel-in-a-Square Block This thirties-era Pinwheel-in-a-Square quilt block finishes at 12" x 12", large enough for the wonderful reproduction fabrics to make a bold statement. Of course, if you aren't into fabrics from this area, simply choose another theme for your quilt blocks. The design works well with any fabrics. Janet Wickell Thirties Pinwheel-in-a-Square Block originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 07:00:57. Permalink | Comment | Email this Woven Baskets Quilt & Quilt Block Pattern I've had several emails from readers looking for basket quilt and quilt block patterns. So here's something new, a Woven Basket pattern. Use the pattern to make Woven Baskets quilt blocks. Page 4 of the pattern includes yardages and cutting to help you make a 61" square wallhanging, but you can customize the size and layout to suit your needs. Like other basket blocks, Woven Baskets works perfectly with either scrappy or organized fabrics. Janet Wickell Woven Baskets Quilt & Quilt Block Pattern originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 09:23:02. Permalink | Comment | Email this Improved Four Patch Quilt Block & Quilt Pattern The Improved Four Patch quilt block is made up of a four patch central unit set on point, and then surrounded by triangles. It's an easy patchwork quilt block that's suitable for quilters of every skill level, even beginners. The block finishes at 11-1/4-inches square, and you'll find instructions and fabric requirements for single blocks and for an entire quilt. Improved Four Patch Quilt Block & Quilt Pattern originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Saturday, August 21st, 2010 at 05:57:31. Permalink | Comment | Email this Navajo Quilt Block Pattern The traditional Navajo patchwork quilt block makes a wonderful scrap quilt. Mix-up its colors, adding anything that reminds you of the western United States (or throw out tradition and choose an entirely different palette). Navajo is a block with a ready-made on-point appearance -- created by sewing corner squares to each patchwork center. Sew the blocks side by side, or put them into columns and separate the columns with colorful strips of fabric. Janet Wickell Navajo Quilt Block Pattern originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 10:07:32. Permalink | Comment | Email this Write About Machine Quilting for Us I'm excited to finally announce that we're looking for a contributing writer (CW for short) for the Quilting site. CWs are part of a new program at About.com, one that's helping Guides fill-in areas of specialized content, in this case someone to write about Machine Quilting (it's a fantastic method, but I love hand quilting, and have loads of work to do in order to develop that content). So if you love to machine quilt, and have technical writing experience, just follow the link to learn how to apply to be a Contributing Writer for the Quilting site. Write About Machine Quilting for Us originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Monday, August 16th, 2010 at 10:46:26. Permalink | Comment | Email this Aurora Borealis Quilt Block and Quilt Pattern I've only seen the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) once, from an open field in Iowa. They were beautiful, but had I not known what I was looking at, the constant bends and flashes of color that crossed the night sky would likely have been a frightening experience. I hope to witness the lights again sometime, but it won't happen in my southern state. I wanted the Aurora Borealis quilt to resemble those flashes of light against a night sky. The quilt is created by surrounding color-intense stars (a Friendship Star variation) with a mottled, multicolored fabric backed in black. A plain black background is added next, to make the colorful components stand out. There's not enough space here to show you an image of the Aurora Borealis quilt -- see page 3 of the pattern (and click on the image if you would like a closer look). Janet Wickell Aurora Borealis Quilt Block and Quilt Pattern originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Friday, August 13th, 2010 at 12:00:13. Permalink | Comment | Email this Ocean Waves Quilt Pattern Ocean Waves is a design that's packed with half square triangle units. The quilt isn't difficult to make, but it does have lots and lots of pieces. I'm only showing the block here, because scaling the quilt down to a size that fits the space makes it pretty much unrecognizable. The pattern is a natural for scrap piecing, but looks great sewn in an orderly fashion, too. If the number of patches the quilt requires seems like more than you want to take on, just assemble a small batch of the units each time you sit down to sew. Accumulate them in a box, keeping track of how many you add each time, and for a true scrap quilt sew the units with fabrics from the day's sewing tasks. The end result is definitely worth the effort. Ocean Waves Quilt Pattern originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Sunday, August 8th, 2010 at 15:47:01. Permalink | Comment | Email this New Red Light/Green Light, an Easy Quilt Pattern Like other quilts, Red Light/Green Light can be personalized in so many ways. I love florals, and can see it as a 'watercolor' style quilt, where the florals melt into each other. And batiks would be perfect, too. Simply change the fabrics to personalize the pattern. Straight grain pieces help make this an easy quilt pattern, since there are no stretchy bias edges to deal with. It's one of many quilt patterns on the Quilting Web site that are a good choice for beginners who want to practice their rotary cutting and strip piecing skills. If you're a beginning quilter, read a few important tutorials before you make this 59" x 79" quilt: About Fabric Grain New Red Light/Green Light, an Easy Quilt Pattern originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 at 11:27:03. Permalink | Comment | Email this Color Wheel Basics for Quilters Forget about all the "rules" you've heard about colors that do and do not "match," because you can make any color work with any other color by playing with different versions of it. Choosing colors and fabrics for our quilts becomes easier with each quilt we make. We don't have to use a color wheel to choose fabrics we like, but it does help us understand the relationship between colors, and that makes fabric selection a bit less stressful. Photo © Janet Wickell Color Wheel Basics for Quilters originally appeared on About.com Quilting on Sunday, August 1st, 2010 at 16:00:22. Permalink | Comment | Email this Newsfeed display by CaRP |
|
Links to other information about quick creative quilting
designer companion quilting machine |
|---|
Copyright ©2005 Quilt-for-fun.com |