Wednesday Tutorial - quilt patterns on your layout

I've said this before but I'll say it again; I was really inspired by my stepmom's quilting room when I made my Unplanned Harvest layout. I love it when things work together like this. We were in her yard, picking apples and pears and plums, we were staying in her quilt room, which was filled with beautiful and amazingly detailed quilts. Even as I took these photos I knew they both had to go together.



Paper piecing is starting to become more popular, but I haven't seen many people doing piecing that involved traditional quilting. As you must know, I sew on everything, so am consistently intrigued and inspired by fabric and sewing on my projects.

When I first sought out a quilt pattern, I knew I didn't want anything where I'd need to cut a curved line, and I also didn't want any pattern where the pieces were too small. I also knew that I wanted 6 total blocks, 3 on a page, and they couldn't be too big. 12 / 3 is 4 inches, so I decided to make 4 inch blocks. See how mathematical I am?!

I googled free quilt patterns. I also looked at some of my favorite fabric store sites to see if they had anything inspirational. In the end I found the perfect pattern, and have been inspired to use it again, simply because Studio Calico already makes a stamp!

Here it is. Of course, aptly named, the pinwheel:



I loved that there was a progression of three colors. When deciding what colors to use, I determined to do the same thing as the pattern in regards to the lightest color chosen to the darkest color used.

I then took out a piece of graph paper and made a 4 inch block so that I could determine my paper cuts. Obviously this pattern is easy and so I was able to create (4) 2x2 squares on my graph paper. I then dissected those squares to make the A shape, and did it again to create B and C.

After that, I basically made 12x2 strips of my patterned papers and trimmed them accordingly.

When it came time to layer them on my layout, I took a piece of old cardstock and trimmed it 4x12. I then layered my quilt pieces and tacked them down across the width of my cardstock until they fit together correctly. After that, rather than torture myself with stitching around every triangle, I did a haphazard zig zag and only stitched some of the pieces. I use my sewing machine for dimension so I couldn't leave the pattern as it was.

After I was finished I was able to take my 4x12 piece of cardstock and layer it on my base paper, moving it around until it was where I wanted, and then adhering.

It may seem like extremely small pieces, and a lot of work, but in the end, it really wasn't, and I actually had a lot of fun with it. I've already been working on more layouts incorporating the same principles.


So, to my non-sewing friends, try quilting. With Paper! You don't have to sew at all. And you might actually enjoy it!

Davinie