Hey quilter's.....hope everyone is having a great day. It's that time of year when we get geared up for the Holidays. If you're like me...thinking of a different and perfect gift can be daunting. I usually try to make my gifts homemade...personalizing in some way. Well,,,I have to share my sweet grandson did exactly that for me! He turned his "school art" into a "quilt block" for me for Christmas. Wth our crazy move to Florida, I had packed it safely and needless to say I just found it 2 days ago. Here's the funny....I safely packed it with my sweaters. Seriously no wonder I couldn't find it! My Texas sweaters have not been worn in 2 yrs. Even when I visit my family, I pack lightly so finding his art was a true blessing for me. He previously had done one of his art pictures into a "quilt block" for me that I will be sharing soon 'cause it became my "new technique." He knew how excited I was, so he did it again. It's so precious seeing his art detail grow. He's so thoughtful and always thinking of ways to make his "Gege" happy. I'm sharing this as a quilt-a-long and hoping to inspire others for a great gift idea. You can almost turn any photo into a "quilt block" and personalize the design using your scrap fabric. Win...win for me! I used Aurifil 50 weight thread 2692, 3910, 2582, 2780, 2260 & scraps from Hoffman Batiks & Michael Miller Fairy Frost to compliment his creativity. The "quilt block" is 6 1/4 x 8 1/4 so I will be making a wall hanging and one day he can have it back! :-) This is a fun & fast quilt-a-long so...Let's get scrapin'!
Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,
Cat
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Here's all you need...
*Photo quilt block
*Scraps to compliment your photo & fabric to accommodate the size of block for your backing.
*Battting
*Thread to accent your design (you know me...it's Aurifil thread!) :-)
Tip...before we get started...due to the nature of "photo fabric" please do not get heat from an iron on or near your precious block...I carefully used a pressing sheet to cover when I needed to iron close. :-)
Here's all you do...
*Trim your photo block sides to a 1/4" with a rotary cutter & ruler...(carefully) :-) They usually come with a white trim around your photo.
For 1st Border...
*Rotary cut strips to "frame your picture"...I did a 1/4" border but do what works for you.
rotary cut strips per your square...
Ex...mine are 3/4 x 6 1/4 for top/bottom & 3/4 x 9 for left/right border.
Sew with a 1/4" seam allowance strip to top of square (right sides together) then your strip to bottom of square....finger press & trim, square up as you go.
Now sew your left/right strips using same method above. Pic below shows the first border of "black fabric" framing the pic.
2nd border...
*For a 1/2 " border...Rotary cut strips 1" by the size of your block.
Ex... mine are 1" v 7 for top/bottom and 1" x 9 3/4 for left/right border. Follow same steps as above and trim/square up as you go.
Border/Binding...
Tip...this strip will be larger due to my border/binding technique...use your preferred method but you know me...it's less-stress-quilting! :-)
For a 1/2" border...Rotary cut strips...2" per your block.
Ex..mine are 2" x 7 3/4 for top/bottom and 2" x 12 1/2 for left/right borders.
Sew using same method as previous steps.
Tip...I reversed the color order of the fabric strips...do the same or get creative...it's your design :-)
*No worries about the strip size because we "fold back" later after quilting :-)
Carefully using a pressing sheet...press only your fabric strips.
*Roughly fold back your border strip a 1/2"...measure your block and rotary cut your backing fabric and batting to this size. Finger press back out as you layer your backing (right side down) batting then block (right side facing you)
*Pin or clip and quilt as desired. I will be quilting in the ditch and straight-line stitching following his design. The more I look at his design I see how creative he was with all those tiny specks throughout his design, My heart is full with this project!
Tip...I used a "new needle" before quilting the square due to the nature of the fabric block.
Have fun quilting & check back for Phase 2! ;-)
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