The Proverbial End

Way back last summer I started a very casual quiltalong here using Denyse Schmidt's Proverbial Quilt pattern. After making my Blackbird quilt, several people expressed interest in making their favourite quote or song into a quilt as well, so I gathered up a few sponsors and we got started!

This type of quilt isn't really a quickie, and I'm a pretty pathetic quiltalong host (I've discovered) as I can't even keep my own deadlines. However, I think it's time to officially close things prize-wise.  Any longer and this book is going to find a permanent place in my shelf and the fabric?  Well you all know what would happen with that!

Denyse Schimdt Quilts was kind enough to share a hard copy of her latest book as well as a jelly roll of Chicopee. I did a random drawing from everyone in the flickr group who has shared a photo of their pattern, or their fabric, or any bits of progress on their quilts.  Stitchliterate is the lucky winner of the book and Amy (aviva_hadas) has won the jelly roll. Congratulations gals!!

A few participants have finished their amazing quilts so I thought I'd share them to inspire anyone who is considering a text quilt. I love how each of these are quilted, too! 

This is Heather's sweet baby quilt 

Cathy's Proverbial Sunshine - so perfect!

Dana's beautiful quilt made for a friend in need of encouragement and inspiration.

And this is one half of an anniversary gift for Julie's husband - check out her flickr stream for the other half!

Thanks to everyone who participated and shared their progress and supported one another with suggestions and photo tutorials. Thanks also to the sponsors that provided prizes for us!

    

Proverbial Quiltalong (4) - Freezer Paper Method

Here we are with the fourth post for the Proverbial Quiltalong. We're finally going to cut some fabric!  There are a few quilters well on their way, already piecing their letters and words. For those of you still choosing fabric (and your words, for that matter!) don't worry and don't feel rushed. I just figured since some people are itchin' to get stitchin', I'd provide the tutorial for the freezer paper method that I used to cut out and piece my letters.  I first learned this method of piecing from friends who took a Ruth McDowell workshop at my traditional guild about 7 years ago.

I'm telling you, freezer paper is the unsung hero of sewing notions! I have always bought it at major grocery stores on a roll in the food wrap section, but now it's available in pre-cut sheets for feeding through your printer. Very handy for foundation piecing, but for our Proverbial quilts, we'll stick with tracing.

1. First things first. Write out your quote/lyrics/poem/saying(s) and do a tally of each letter of the alphabet you'll need. That way, you save time by only tracing the templates for letters you need.  I'm making a baby girl quilt with a lyric from Sarah Mclachlan's song Ice Cream, a lullaby I sung to my children. All of my words will be pink, except for "chocolate" which will be brown, that's why you see little letters p & b beside each tally.

2. Using a window or light table is really confusing because the pattern comes double-sided. I find the pattern is dark enough to see through the freezer paper just on a table. Cut your freezer paper into a manageable size. Lay it over the letter. Trace each element of the letter, leaving about a 1/2" between elements (this is so you can cut with a rotary cutter and not worry about 'overcutting' into the adjacent template piece).  Label each template piece as shown on the pattern, but add a code that will remind you which pieces are for background fabric.

3. Cut out each element of the letter pattern. I use a mini-rotary cutter and a 1" x 6" ruler. If you've got some arthritis, or just find it tricky, you may want to use a larger ruler for more control.

4. Lay out the templates and choose your fabrics

5. With a hot, dry iron, press the freezer paper onto the right side of the chosen fabric.

 

6. Now, using the Add a Quarter ruler, align the 1/4" ledge with the edge of the paper template and cut your fabric. The reason we don't just add a 1/4" to the paper template from the beginning is because you run the risk of shaving off a little bit of template every time you cut right on the edge of the paper.

7. Lay out your fabric pieces as shown in the pattern. 

8.Remove the paper and piece using a scant 1/4" seam allowance, following the number order given on each template. Sew piece 1 to piece 2, then add piece 3...etc. Press after each addition. Refer to your Proverbial Quilt pattern for instructions on sewing angled pieces - there is a great diagram there.

9.  You have a letter!! Best news ever: your freezer paper templates are reusable about 10 more times. Keep them all in an envelope because you never know when you'll want to make another Proverbial quilt.

Everyone works in their own way. Some are methodical and will plan ahead which fabric they'll use for every letter and every word.  I often work in a very methodical, controlled way, so when I made Blackbird I wanted to try a very free approach. I kept the left side of my brain happy by working my way through the alphabet and making every letter A, then every letter B, then every letter C required by my tally. However, the right side got a workout by pulling fabric and piecing each letter in a completely random way without any regard for what might end up next to it in the final layout. In this way, I kept the project truly scrappy and unplanned while satisfying my goals for enjoying the process. Once all the letters were made, I used a design wall to layout the words.  More on layout in the next post...

Now that B and I are sleeping under Blackbird Fly, I can honestly say that the contentment and lack of pressure I felt while making it has absolutely translated into how truly happy I am with the finished quilt.  That's why I wanted this quiltalong to remain unstructured and casual, so that all of you can enjoy the process of creating your Proverbial quilts, too!  Please keep posting your progress in the flickr group as this is where I'll be getting names for entry into sporadic prize drawings. Everyone who is quilting along has an equal chance of winning!

Proverbial Quiltalong (3) - Selecting Fabric

This is post #3 in the Proverbial Quiltalong. If you'd like to see what we're up to, have a look here. Feel free to join anytime. This is a no-schedule, no voting, no judging quiltalong featuring random giveaway prizes just for participating! Here's the latest in the prize line up, direct from Denyse Schmidt Quilts!

A signed hardcover copy of Denyse's amazing new book and a jelly roll

 of her sublime new collection Chicopee hitting stores now!!

Most people have their patterns now, so before we get too far ahead of ourselves (helloooo, people who have already started piecing - you can skip this post!) I thought I'd share the process I went through when selecting fabric for my Blackbird Fly quilt.

Everyone approaches colour and fabric selection from a different place or motivation. I don't have an arts background, nor am I a colour expert. I am often inspired by a single print, as I was for Blackbird Fly.  Folk art-inspired prints are favourites of mine and when I saw this collection by Alexander Henry I was smitten!

I knew right away that I would use the dotty print for a binding (the strip across the top right of the photo). Our bedroom is painted a gentle harvest gold colour, so the buttery and mustard  yellows in the print were perfect. The background is not green, gray, slate or beige. I don't know what to call it, but I liked it!  Using the colour dots on the selvage edge as a guide, I made colour groups of coordinating fabrics, making sure to have a range of hues and print sizes that would ultimately have a scrappy appeal.

The pinks

At first I think B was taken aback when he saw the stacks of pink and he wondered out loud how it was that we were ending up with a pink quilt. I didn't really plan for that to happen; they are all just so pretty!  When you look at the finished project, I don't think it screams Pink Quilt.  That is likely due to the fact that no single strip of fabric in the quilt is wider than about 2" and most are actually less than that. I also chose pink prints ranging from baby pink to bubble gum to fuschia and many that also included other colours.

The yellows

Some solids for a saturated ka-pow here and there

Then I had to work on the background. In Denyse's cover quilt, she defined her letters and background by colour. Her letters are orange and pink, her background is blue and grey. What look do you want? Do you want those letters and words to really stand out and make a statement? Then you need to go for contrast in colour or value.  In my case, I was going for a more restful, blended look, without a stark contrast between the letters and the background.

Keeping that in mind, I chose to focus on tans that were of a similar tone to the French General linen look 'solid' (bottom of the stack).  I had several metres of the French General purchased on super sale and was really excited to finally use it.  I love the look of prints and linen together, even if this is sort of faking it. There is some essex linen/cotton blend in putty (second from the bottom) thrown into some of the background as well. When looking through a ruby beholder, I can see that there is not a huge value difference between the fabrics of my letters and the background. Result: blended appearance.

When all of my rows were pieced together and I had them out on the floor, I made the decision to sash them close together with the French General fabric, rather than separate them with a stark background as in the pattern sample. It made more sense to me that the words of the song were together, not apart. To fill out the queen size, I used Kona Bone along the top and bottom of the word section. That's what I love about this pattern, you can really take Denyse's fabulous templates and make the quilt your own not only with proverb/word choice, but with layout as well. I'll talk more about layout a bit later in the quiltalong once we've started working.  Up next week in post #4: preparing your freezer paper templates and piecing your letters!

If you are participating in the quiltalong and have any questions about fabric selection, or would like to share your choices with the us, please add your photos to the flickr group. It's so much fun to see what others plan to do.

Thanks Sponsors! (use buttons in the right sidebar to link directly!)

    

The Proverbial Quiltalong

 "Let's start at the very beginning , a very good place to start"

-Oscar Hammerstein II, from the Sound of Music

The lyrics to the first dance at your wedding? A cherished poem? Movie quotes? Family names? What text would you like to stitch into a quilt? The possibilities are endless, but I chose my favourite song.

After sharing my Blackbird Fly quilt I heard from several readers and friends that they have always wanted to make a word quilt.  Well, here's your chance!  I made a few calls (well, actually I sent a few emails, but making calls sounded rather pro, didn't it? Like I have Denyse Schmidt on speed dial, hehe), secured some awesome sponsored prizes and discounts, so we're ready to go!

I am so excited that Denyse Schmidt has not only given her permission to run a quiltalong using her Proverbial Quilt Pattern, her company is also sponsoring prizes! Text quilts are all the rage and there are several ways to create them including templates, patterns, free-piecing and applique, but for this quiltalong you'll need to purchase and use Denyse's pattern to be eligible for prizes, kay?

Here's some good news: quiltalong participants can take advantage of sponsor discounts both here in Canada as well as south of the border. Flare Fabrics  is offering a 15% discount on the pattern with checkout code Proverb15 until August 30th. As always, Marlene ships free within Canada. U.S. shoppers can check out Tammy's special price on the pattern at Marmalade Fabrics. Both sponsors have a limited number of patterns available so act fast to secure yours (international participants are absolutely welcome to order from either of these shops as well)!

It's summertime and the livin' is easy (hey, that could be a line on someone's quilt!) so I'm not going to be too formal with a planned out schedule or anything. I'll try and post weekly or thereabouts.  For now, if you would like to quilt-a-long here's what you need to do:

1. Order your pattern from Marmalade or Flare Fabrics or purchase at your local quilt shop
2. Join the quiltalong flickr group where we'll share our progress and discuss any issues that arise
3. Think about what size quilt you plan to make and what proverbs, lyrics, quotes, sayings, poem or collection of words or names you would like to piece. Don't forget, you are also welcome to emulate Denyse's own proverb quilt that you see on the pattern cover.

Let me know in the comments if you plan to play along. I realize there are many quiltalongs on the go in blogland at the moment and that's why we'll be taking it slow (so you have time for all of them!!). After all, it took me a year to complete my quilt. That was partly intentional though; don't let that scare you away. Not only am I slow, but I wanted this to be a mindful project that would be entirely pieced on my Featherweight while on retreats.

While we wait for everyone to get their patterns, I'll post about fabrics and layout ideas so you can start planning. Once everyone has their patterns, we'll have our first participant giveaway!  To be eligible for this first giveaway, a FQ set of Cloud 9 - Across the Pond organics from Flare Fabrics, I want to see a photo of you with your Proverbial Quilt pattern in the flickr pool. That way we all get to 'know' each other, too. I think we're going to have lots of fun and I'm imagining a small, friendly group working through our quilts together.

Thanks Sponsors!