Monday, February 14, 2011

Beck's Quilt

Rather than fill today's post with lots of words about this quilt, I thought I'd show y'all the finished product and then chat briefly about one particularly interesting aspect of this quilt.
First the quilt.
One of the challenges of this quilt was incorporating a request made by the mom who commissioned the quilt for her 13 year old boy. She wanted the quilt to not only feature this design, but to include 24 photos of the boy from infancy to about age 8. Add to that, she wanted me to make a legend that explained the photos.
I have to say, as a parent of teenagers, albeit girls so I could be way off base, I think it might be a few years before the quilt's intended recipient fully appreciates or even wants to display his quilt. Call me cynical, but I don't imagine there are a lot of teenage boys who want their buddies hanging out in their room, admiring a quilt that includes pictures of them as babies and toddlers. Then again, maybe these adorable photos will be a real chick magnet, so who knows? Maybe this quilt will peak out from underneath dirty socks and discarded Cliff bar wrappers.
As I mentioned, my customer provided the photos already transferred onto fabric as well as a description of each picture detailing when it was taken and who or what is included in the photo. She asked that I make a legend, transfer that legend to fabric, and applique that onto the back of the quilt. This all made a lot of sense. With a legend, anyone and everyone would know the vital statistics of the photos featured in what is essentially a memory quilt. This seemed like a reasonable request.
The difficulty lay in how to keep track of the information relating to each picture once the photo was separated from its accompanying explanation and how to actually make the legend. My first stab at solving the issue of keeping the information with its specific photo involved tearing out the part of the paper specific to the photo and pinning that to the back of the photo. The problem with that was the pins were cumbersome to work, piece and iron around. I eventually settled on affixing the torn information scrap to the back of the photo by sewing it into the 1/4" seam allowance. Then, when the top was finished I tore out the pieces, one by one, and made a note where necessary about the picture so that I could match the information to the photo once I was ready to make the legend.
To make the legend I simply crafted a chart with 9 columns and 12 rows to mimic the quilt's columns and rows and numbered the spaces that contained photographs. I then labeled the numbered space with the matching information and voila, the quilt has a legend.
 I printed the legend on to a piece of paper-backed fabric, peeled the paper off, turned under 1/4" on all four sides and appliqued the legend to the back of the quilt.
It was all so much easier than I thought it would be.
Tomorrow the quilt goes to its new home. I'm glad the legend is there to add a little more clarity about the little boy, who's not so little anymore, and his story.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you did a GORGEOUS job and I absolutely love how all the colors work so well together. Congrats!! It's beautiful!

Siobhan Rogers said...

What a big Job! looks great ;)

Poppyprint said...

This is amazing. It doesn't even look like a memory quilt (and I like that). With all of that colour action, the photos find their own place and they're not distracting, nor do they take away from your fabulous piecing. It really is a fantastic quilt and I hope Beck will love it!

Molly said...

Very cool quilt and the pictures fit in perfectly and don't overwhelm the design. I'm sure he'll love. I made each of my boys a quilt and embroidered some funny quotes they're famous for in odd spots and they loved finding them and reminiscing. If he doesn't appreciate it now he will when he gets older.

stitches from wales said...

Oh my what a beautiful keepsake. Even if he doesn't appreciate it now, he will in the future. You did well to work all that info together.The colours are great too

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

A beautiful job that truly will last for generations. Can you imagine being this young man’s granddaughter being inspired to make a similar piece for her son’s firstborn ?~?! I can. Wow, an excellent work of art.

Rocio said...

I was really interested to see the result. I like it! Apart from the nice colors, adding those personal photos make this quilt very special. I love the backing fabric and the binding. Congratulations for the very well done job!

Unknown said...

I am sure this will be an heirloom for this family, by your hands. It is so cheerful, too. I cannot imagine how many hours it took you to put this all together. BTW, I received my Stitch in the mail the other day. I love it. Thank you so much for your generosity.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous quilt!!! But I'm afraid you might be right. My boys are 18 and 22... the pictures are bad enough, but the bright colors will probably be interpreted as "girly". If that's the case, I hope this mom will be wise enough to put it away until he matures! LOL
This truly is a gift he will (eventually) treasure.

Cynthia said...

The colors are so amazing! I thought as I read she wanted you to write a legend as in a story!! Too funny.

Judy Alexander said...

Beautiful quilt. Love all the colors and great job.

Heather said...

Nicely done!

Vick's Dogsitting Service Slayer said...

My mom gave me the quilt yesterday and I love it. The colors are great and it is on my bed right now. The pictures on my quilt are all my favorite pics from when I was little. I think my friends will be envious of my cool quilt. :-)

Eat Sleep Quilt said...

That quilt is simply beautiful... what a clever solution you found for keeping the legend with the appropriate picture! He's sure to love his new quilt although, at that age, he may only do so secretly. :o)

Linda

Kay said...

I think you're 100% right about a boy not wanting this quilt on his bed. However that's probably a good thing, since if it's not used it will last. It's a beautiful quilt, and for the right person at the right time, a wonderful memory piece too.

Kim Blair said...

This definitely looks like a 'Mondrian' inspired quilt! Love the vibrant colors.
Kim

Mermaid's Purse said...

That is gorgeous! I love the fact that the blocks aren't all uniform too which adds a bit of quirkiness to the quilt!

boros1124 said...

I love it! Colorful and fun. There is a book about a patchwork. Very good book, but the colors are faded quite sure.
http://www.konyv-konyvek.hu/book_images/20a/999640520a.jpg

KeyQuilter said...

cool idea! I think you're right about the age/appreciation thing but i hope he loves it!