STARTING WORK FOR QUILT NATIONAL

The Quilt National 2015 deadline is coming up soon – September 12th. I’m planning to make a new quilt from my “Shattered” series. I’ve taken a photograph and had it printed digitally on cotton sateen. The sateen captures the photo details more crisply than the rougher surface of a plain-weave quilting cotton. This is the print (about 15” wide).

I choose 8 copies of the print, which will make squares of Rows 1 and 9.” Each copy of this set is trimmed with ½ inch white background at the top. The first copy (of the set of 8) is trimmed with a ½ inch border of white background on the right hand side. The left hand edge of the second copy is trimmed to the beginning of the image. The left edge of the third copy is reduced by an additional ½ inch Every copy is trimmed by another ½ inch (to 1”, 1.5”, 2” ,2.5”, and 3”).

Picking up the first copy of the print and beginning from the top left corner, I divide each image into four-inch squares. This print will yield six squares (three for Row 1 and three for Row 9). The right edge and the bottom of the print are not big enough to get a full 4-inch square and are discarded. The squares are carefully arranged in piles to keep them all the same direction and in the planned order. A square that is sewn upside down looks odd. If I don’t notice the error right away, I have to rip it out and sew in correctly.

The pieces are sewn together in long strips:

This is the result of two sets of eight images (the first and third rows come from one set; the second and fourth rows from the second set). Notice that pieces of the image walk across the strip. See the quilts in the Shattered portfolio. “Jade” and “Black and White” show how the design travels across the surface.

I’ll be working on this quilt for the next couple of weeks. I’ll sew all the squares together, add planned side borders (color undecided) and then quilt it with a one-inch grid.

Off to work.