The quilt, at last

[zubeneschamali]

This summer I asked for help in collecting quilt patterns from shops around the country, and y'all got together and sent me about a dozen quilts' worth. Y'all are awesome. I wasn't able to use everything, but I did finish a quilt using ten of the patterns, and I could not have done it without you. I'm going to hang it on my wall and think of my fandom friends every time I see it. :)





The rows are from Bellingham, WA and Detroit, MI; Washington, DC, and Dallas; Plano, TX, and Centralia, WA; Utah and Illinois; and Illinois and Vermont. I made all of these using fusible web: you cut out the shapes from fabric and from this slightly-sticky web-like stuff (google Mistyfuse), layer them on the background fabric, and press with a hot iron. Then you stitch around the edges of the all the shapes with a tiny zig-zag to make
sure they stay in place. As you can see from the fraying in some of the closeups, I didn't always do a good job of that. >.<

The top left one was the very first one I picked up. I found out about this whole Row by Row thing while I was driving between Vancouver and Seattle this summer. I was stopping at a couple of quilt shops along the way (as you do), and I overheard a customer asking for the free pattern. Free? Wait, and every quilt shop has a different one? Ohhhhh boy.

I adore the one with the skyline; it doesn't show up too well in the picture, but the reflected buildings in the water are all wavy. The sunset fabric I found for the background was perfect. And I also love the Texas one; that was thanks to beelikej and tmn1966 on their road trip.

I love the penguins; that one came from juice817, who picked it up on her travels. Aren't they adorable? The first one is just chillin'; the second one is going a little wild; the third one has that expression that means he can't remember if he left the iron on; and the last one is me, keeping a very careful eye on her marshmallow so it doesn't burn:



The Illinois and Michigan Canal is featured with a towboat and the mule pulling it. That was one of only two that I got the kit for, not just the pattern, because I wanted those figures cut out for me in advance. The background block is my old favorite and namesake Storm at Sea. It was a serious pain in the butt to make, though; I might need to find a new favorite quilt block! The bottom one shows "Champ," the lake monster of Lake Champlain in Vermont. Isn't he cute?

Thanks again to everyone who helped with this. I have a bunch more that I still want to make, but in the meantime, I have to get back to my regular quilts, too! My best friend just announced that her second son is on the way, so that'll be first on the list once I get home from our winter break trip to the West Coast.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and Happy New Year!

Comments

[galwithglasses.livejournal.com]

I am so glad to see this. It came out wonderfully. I love the variety of the scenes and yet how well they go together. It's so fun that the water in the Texas one is in the cattle water trough. The mule and barge on the canal is my favorite. I can see how that would have been really difficult to cut out. Awesome job and so fun to know that the block patterns came from so many fandom friends.

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Yes, I love the water trough in the Texas one, too. The background of that was supposed to be rolling hills like in the upper left, but I had fabric with hills on it, so I just used that!

[bflyw.livejournal.com]

This is so cool! I knew that tmn1966 and beelikej picked up something for you at a quilt shop, but I didn't know what and for what reason. Now I know, and how awesome isn't this?

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

They were so awesome! They picked up even more for me that I still have to make, but only one made it into this quilt.

[wendy.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I love this!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Thanks, bb!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Yay! Very cool to see all those patterns together; I like that you also used a water pattern fabric for you borders, it really pulls the theme together:) Great choice of water for the seperate designs too, and the fabric you picked for the skies looks wonderful with those sunset colours as the most breathtaking effect!

I so loved that they included the little Texan flag with the Dallas pattern, I'm thrilled that you made that one \o/

The penguins are adorable, as are the little swan-babies. I also love the blocks on the side of the lake monster.

What a lot of work you put into this, what a great result. Glad we could be a part of this project;)

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

I love picking out fabrics, so it was fun to have so many different colors to find. And I had to include the Texas one! I'm sorry I didn't get to include the tornado, but when I make a second one with just cities, I'm definitely including St. Louis. Thanks again for your help!

[jimbobjoe.livejournal.com]

This is amazing! The penguins made me LOL!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Aren't they adorable? I'm so grateful to Juice for that one.

[cherie-morte.livejournal.com]

I am so happy!! I love this project, and I am tickled that a) you were able to get so many awesome pieces from lovely people scattered about (fandom is the coolest, huh?) and b) it all came together so beautifully!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Fandom is the best. Glad you like this! <3

[enablelove.livejournal.com]

OMG look how fun!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

I learned a lot making it, and it was definitely fun!

[tuckercat2.livejournal.com]

WOW! I tried to quilt once.. yep, not one of my shining moments or hours or days. Oh well, I now appreciate even more when I see quilts like this! So very awesome!!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon! I tried to make clothing once with not-so-good results, so I'm sticking to what I know.

[emmademarais.livejournal.com]

Hey Z! LJ says it's your birthday so I thought I'd appear out of nowhere to wish you a very happy bday! Miss you!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

OMG, it's so good to hear from you! Thanks for the wishes and hope to see you around again soon.