Category: Ideas/Suggestions

A Framed Life

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I’ve been promising you a look at the quilt my daughter has been making, a photo quilt using pictures of important moments in her life. Some of you have been asking about this quilt in the Q&A section because you have heard me mention it at seminars recently – now, at last here it is, I hope you enjoy!

My daughter wanted to capture people and moments in her life that reflected her journey from birth to her senior graduation. This is the 5th quilt she has made like this, the other 4 were made as gifts for special friends and given to them as graduation presents. What a great way to capture those moments and what a special gift! When she decided that she wanted one of these quilts as well, she wanted to make it herself.

We came up with this pattern when she made her first photo quilt, because the blocks are fast to make and no seams have to match in the block – making it pretty ‘goof-proof’ to make the block.

Every photo album has a tub picture – and this quilt is no exception

First new car – independence day for a 16 year old.

Capture those moments from the getting off the bus on the first day of school to their graduation picture. Where did all those years go?
Thank you to photographer Carl Anderson of Images by Carl for the permission to be able to copy the senior picture in the quilt. If you ever need a professional photographer – check out his website ImagesbyCarl

What a great way to capture those special moments with family and friends – and preserve the memory for years to come.

And here is a picture of the full, completed quilt – not very clear, but you get the idea.

If you would like a free copy of this pattern, designed by me, check out the next post!
Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Photo Fabric – not just for pictures!

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As I promised in Friday’s Post “Tips on Using Photo Print Fabrics“, today I want to share with you a quilt that my daughter is making as a gift for a friend of hers.

She choose to make this quilt a little differently, rather than using photos, she choose Bible verses that were meaningful to the person she is giving the quilt to.  So yes, as I said in the title, photo fabric is NOT just for pictures – we should probably call it ‘printer’ fabric, because that’s more appropriate.

This is just one of the blocks in the quilt. The only thing in this project that differed from the instructions I gave you on Friday’s post (see link above) is that the ‘image’ in this case is wording. So rather than locating a picture on her computer, she created the image using software on the computer. A text image like this could be created using a word processor or a graphic editor, whatever works best for you and you are most comfortable with.

This quilt was made using one of the Turning Twenty patterns, so here you can see a full ‘block’ from the quilt. One of the things that makes turning twenty quilts so much fun visually is that the individual blocks don’t jump right out at you.

On Friday’s post, I included pictures of the label that was being made to go with this quilt. Here is the label, first framed in a brown fabric to make it look like a photo frame, and then added to the quilt back.

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The use of a photo as a quilt label was really a great idea – and I’m glad that she thought of it. I’ll have to try that with at least ONE of my gift projects in the future. Imagine giving a quilt as a gift and knowing that years later someone will have a picture of you that was current from the period when the quilt was made – what a wonderful gift to include!

And here is the completed quilt – you may notice that instead of 20 blocks (as their should be in a Turning Twenty quilt), this quilt was completed with 15 blocks. That is because my daughter didn’t want the quilt to be quite as wide, so she left off a row of blocks. So rather than having 5 rows of 4 blocks each, she has 5 rows of 3 blocks each.

Sorry I couldn’t get a good image of the lettering in each of the boxes, but as you can see from the closeup of the block at the top of this post, the color is a subtle one that was chosen to coordinate with the fabrics used. But each of those 15 light colored blocks does have a separate scripture verse in the block.

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Drapery Fabric = Jacket?

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If you read my post yesterday, you know I was teaching a seminar in the Hancock Fabrics store in Onalaska, WI. Yesterday, I shared two gorgeous chenille jackets that had been made by employees at the store. But they are not alone in their love of jackets. Today I have two jackets made by Rose, another employee at the store.

Instead of making chenille to make her jackets, Rose uses drapery fabrics. The weight and texture of the fabrics make for a very rich looking jacket.


This jacket was made using Kwik Sew Pattern #3236

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And here is a view of the back of the jacket – aren’t the colors just perfect together? Imagine this on a cool fall day!

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A closeup of the back of the jacket, can you see the slight textural differences in the fabrics that were used?

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And this button, with it’s slightly antiqued look, really sets off the jacket. So often we don’t think of finding a good ‘match’ for accessories like buttons, but they really do make a big difference!

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And because in Wisconsin, even spring can be rather cool, this jacket is a perfect way to let you ‘think spring’ even when you can’t really go outside and enjoy spring yet. Made using Kwik Sew Pattern #3129

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This jacket was made using drapery remnants, which makes it a much more affordable option than going out and purchasing a one large piece of fabric for the jacket. And, just as with the brown jacket above, the different fabrics add interest to the jacket.

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We’ve all seen great purses and bags made using decorator fabrics. They are a great choice not only due to the colors and patterns available, but because of the durability of the fabrics – now you’ve seen that those same fabrics make a great option for a light-weight jacket. What other ways can you think of to use decorator fabrics – other than the expected?

Love the feel of chenille? Here are some more ideas for making and using your own chenille fabric:

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila