Alright guys so I printed out a scale copy based on my original size for the quilt and, uh, it was big. Like, this wouldn't fit on a twin-sized bed big. So I've reduced the size a bit to something more manageable! (CD for scale, please ignore the other stuff in the room lol)
The new size will be approximately 52" high by 35"-ish wide.
Since I'm trying to make this as precise as possible I spent the evening struggling with math, lol. If people know any free, Mac-friendly programs I would appreciate it, haha. I made a mockup in Photoshop that I *think* is more exact but we won't know until I start assembling because, have I mentioned this before, I am terrible at math, lol.
I made the mockup in this way because I can use the magic wand tool to get the precise measurements of what each of those pieces are, knowing that I'll need to add a 1/4 inch seam allowance to everything.
Based on my estimates I think I'm going to need the following approximate yardage (assuming the bolt is 40" wide cotton):
1/4 yard maroon for borders
1/4 yard red for borders
1/4 yard blue for squares
1/4 yard gold for squares
1/2 yard blue background
1 yard black for trims and binding
1/2 yard red bird
1/2 yard zebra white
1 yard red orange
1/2 yard magenta
1 yard gold
1/2 yard light yellow
1/2 yard green leaves
1/2 yard bark brown
+ assorted golds, gauzes, etc.
I'm going to a quilt show tomorrow to do some initial color and fabric scouting, wish me luck! I'll be sure to take pics of anything I bring home and keep you all posted. :)
Hey guys! Thanks for stopping by, I'm excited to get started on here!
I'm gonna go into a bit more detail under the cut, but TLDR, I've made a new blog to document the process of my next big quilting project, which I hope to enter into the AQS 2025 Lancaster show.
Why I'm Doing This
A few weeks ago we went to our local state fair specifically to see the handicrafts section and got inspired by all the quilts there. I've been wanting to step back from fandom stuff and work on more original pieces, and I've always wanted to try entering more contests, so I figured a quilt show would be a perfect thing to work towards.
I want to do something that's showy and has room to embellish as much as I want without being overly complicated. I've decided to rework my phoenix pin design:
(Sorry about the pixelation/anti-theft stuff I can't get Glaze to work on my computer lol)
How It Will Be Assembled
I'm going to build the quilt in two parts:
The background is pretty simple, just a matter of squares and long strips to frame out a section filled with applique leaves and apples (I was too lazy to redraw it here just imagine it lol).
The bird itself will be sewn onto gauze and then placed onto the background as a last step. The pieces are fairly large blocks of color, the embellishments will be dealt with through painting, embroidery, and beading. This will allow me to work on detailing the bird without dealing with the bulk of the background.
The applique pieces will be fused background and then sewn together with decorative stitching/embellishments. I think the actual quilting itself will be tracing the basic shapes and trying to be as neat as possible while doing so.
Sizing
Since I'm hoping to enter this into a contest, I needed to size it to fit within the contest dimensions. I've settled on a quilt that's about 70" by 50", which is a little shorter than the 72" height limit and totally within the width limits.
Materials
Fortunately I think I have most of the materials I need on hand, at least for the quilt top. The design will be primarily batiks (my beloved), although the bird will probably require some additional iridescent textures and layering.
Math is hard but I think for the background I'm going to need:
30 x 52 Blue background
50 x 1.5 strip yellow cubes
50 x 1.5 strip blue cubes
four 5.5 x 5.5 corner squares
two 2.5 x 52 red side panel
two 2.5 x 30.5 red top/bottom panel
two 1 x 52 yellow side panel
two 1 x 30.5 yellow top/bottom panel
eight 1 x 52 black side panel
eight 1 x 30.5 black top/bottom panel
eight 1 x 6 black corner frames
203 inches of 2” black binding
assorted green, brown, gold (tree applique)
The bird will be primarily made of fat quarters and 1/4 yard strips, plus lots and lots of scraps.
To be honest I another reason I am making the background first is so that I can adjust the background as needed since I have a bad feeling the numbers don't quite add up.
Timeline
The deadline for the contest submission is May 8th but I'm hoping to be done before that. I'm roughly planning the following schedule for benchmarks:
End of Sept - Have all materials and cut background pieces
End of Nov - Have background assembled, minus binding
End of Dec - Bird pieces painted as needed and the base of the bird has been fused together and onto the gauze background
End of Feb- Bird embellishments done, bird trimmed and sewn down to the background
End of April- Quilting complete
I'm hoping to take some time off of work in October to really get a head start on all of this, so fingers crossed progress goes smoothly. Wish me luck, and thanks for joining me on this adventure!
