“She seemed to walk in an atmosphere of things about to happen.”
Anne of Avonlea
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Hello!
I hope you have had a beautiful week with the advent of autumn and a lovely, round full moon to light our nights! I promised last week that I would discuss layouts in this blog. In the quilting world, layouts are limitless...blocks and pieces of fabric can be combined to create endless combinations to lovely effect in innumerable quilts.
For my T-Shirt quilts, layouts can be simpler, especially when we are talking about Classic T-Shirt quilts. Classic T-Shirt quilts are always in a grid pattern and the blocks finish at 13”. Who decides the layout for a Classic quilt is completely up to the customer. Some clients like to create the layout, while others are happy to leave the layout of the pieces to me. For people who prefer to decide the layout of their shirts, I have provided a grid on the Order page. You can download it and fill it in and give it to me with your shirts, or you can email or text me a picture of the shirts in the layout you like best.
Customers who want me to complete the layout can get a preview of the layout once I get the shirts prepped before I piece the top, or they can be surprised when the quilt is finished. The way I usually think about a Classic layout is by the color of the shirts (actual color and dark, light, or medium) and the size of the graphics. I try to mix up the colors and the values to balance the quilt, and the graphics need to be balanced in the same way. Large graphics that cover a square cannot all be on the same side of the quilt. I also look at all word graphics and picture graphics as a way to balance the quilt, as well. I have a giant 6”x6” table in the studio that I usually use to finalize layouts. I set out all of the pieces and I move them around until I am satisfied!
Custom T-Shirt quilt layouts are always done by me. Clients may let me know they want a particular piece centralized, but I create the layout based on the same factors as Classic quilts, while I also change the size of the pieces. The size of the pieces are based on the shirts themselves, so if you have pieces or graphics that do not fit into 13”...like hockey jerseys...then you might want to get a Custom quilt. Custom quilt layouts have a more modern look to them, too. I love creating a custom layout because it is like a puzzle! Customers can also get a sneak peak at the layout, if they like, before I piece the top.
Memory quilts and custom quilts can also have endless layout possibilities. The layout for Memory quilts are really based on what the customer is seeking and what will best highlight the fabrics from the clothing and honor the person who wears/wore them. Custom quilt layouts are often decided by something a client sees or a fabric they have or even a room or place they are planning to put the quilt. In both cases, usually customers and I look over the clothing/fabric and discuss everything. Sometimes I draw a possible layout, too, to help them decide. I am currently researching classic quilt block patterns for a special memory quilt coming up in my line-up.
Pillows and bears are just smaller versions of Custom layouts, which is so much fun! For bears, I make the fabric for the bear, so I can place special pieces in special places based on the bear pattern...for instance I can place a heart over the heart of the bear. Pillows can also be customized...sometimes they are made from one piece or several pieces. Sometimes pillows have a cotton back and sometimes the back is clothing fabric.
I suppose my point with this blog is to explain my process and thinking for layouts and to show you that customization is the heart of my business. If you have an idea and you are unsure, then ask me. I know what I can do and what I cannot do, and if I cannot do what you want, then it might spark an idea in my head that gets us the same effect. You might be surprised by the magic I can put into a quilt!
So what would you like to see in your quilt?
Sending Quilting Love,
Ginger
Coming Next Week: Interfacing, heatnbond, sashing...what are all those quilting terms I am using?
I am Reading: I am still reading Wicked by Gregory McGuire and Tightrope by Simon Mawer, and I am working my way through Let Your Creativity Work for You by Heather Allen. I am still reading bits of poetry, and I have stacks of things to read, which always makes me happy! I am still thinking about the need for more reading everywhere and the need for reading freedom in schools. I used to teach Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and I always felt its relevance and the prickles of fear at its uncanny read of the bent of our world some 63 years on. If you have not read it, then you should. It is beautifully written and it has the integrity Virginia Woolf says great literature has. Pores...the book has pores. We cannot allow Beatty-like philosophies to suffocate our society’s creativity and thought. Are you thinking what I am thinking...yes a reread and some quotations are in order.