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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

A Manly-Man's Quilt

As I mentioned in my last post, at my grandmother's request, I am making four memory quilts from my grandfather's western shirts for each of their sons.  He is in the end stages of Alzheimer's and I know it will mean a lot to my Dad and uncles to have a special keepsake that reminds them of the father they knew that is technically still here in body, even as he isn't in mind.  I just finished the first one and it will be my Dad's.

Here is the top all finished.  It measures 60 x 60 inches.  It is appropriately manly, don't you think?  Made from manly shirts, and paired with manly colors (Kona Parchment and Kona Coal).  And, just in case you were wondering- I hereby decree that kaleidoscope quilts can be manly as well!



Manly?...yes.  Quick and simple?...absolutely not.  Cutting and piecing this kaleidoscope quilt was by far one of the least simple patterns I've done.  I'm not saying it was incredibly difficult, but it just required more careful attention than many other patterns.

One thing that helped immensely was my wise purchase of a kaleidoscope ruler-



I don't know if the picture shows it well, but it creates a template for the main triangle pieces, as well as the corner pieces, and it's adjustable for different block sizes.  It really helped with the cutting, but the nature of the cuts still meant that it was a bit time consuming.

The ruler also came with a set of instructions for piecing the block, and they were really helpful.  Apparently it's important to piece the triangles and corners in a particular order, because I accidentally got out of order once with unfortunate results.  Again, not a pattern you can throw together mindlessly (sometimes we all need those!).

All that said, I really am happy with the resulting quilt top, and I hope my Dad loves it too.  I'm planning to back it in the same Kona Coal in the border, and I may play around with appliqueing some of the western pockets somewhere on the quilt.

I'm entering this in Quilting Gallery's weekly Quilter's Show and Tell.  The theme this week is Memory Quilts, so I thought it would fit right in!  Starting on Friday, swing by and vote for my quilt!


                                                  Quilters’ Show and Tell

16 comments:

  1. Love the complex pattern it creates when finished. Very nice.

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  2. Amazing Kelly! You are creating a wonderful treasure.

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  3. What a beautiful gift full of memories and love. Sue

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  4. What a fabulous quilt! This sure is MANLY! And I really love the thought behind the four quilts!
    Your work will be appreciated and loved!
    Esther
    esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo dot com
    ipatchandquilt dot wordpress dot com

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  5. That quilt is amazing!! Your Dad will love it, I'm sure. All the lucky recipients will treasure theirs too.
    You got that done pretty quickly too, I'm very impressed!
    Thanks again for helping me with my coins on the sidewalk quilt. I've worked on it last night and tonight. I'm not sure what color I'll use for sashing yet. I'll send you a photo when I'm done. I'm not nearly as fast as you though, haha.
    I tried fixing my no-reply status but I'm not sure if I was successful or not. :/

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    1. thanks, Kim! Yeah, I get a bit of tunnel vision when it comes to getting quilts finished, particularly if they're for someone else. :)

      I'm so glad your coin quilt is going well! Let me know if you have any other questions, and I'm happy to help!

      Sadly no, you are still a no-reply blogger. :( there are a few tutorials out there to help you fix that. I think this is the one I used-

      http://www.flusterbuster.com/2013/02/are-you-no-reply-blogger.html

      Good luck!

      :) Kelly

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    2. Oh bummer.... I had a feeling I didn't get it fixed. Thanks for the link for help. I might need outside help with this. Ohhh, that makes me feel old :D
      I was auditioning sashing colors for this coin quilt. I have a bit of Kona -Raisin, and I really like it but of course I'd need to get some more. I live on Vancouver Island in Canada and my local quilt shops don't carry a lot of solids. One of them is willing to order in whatever color I want though :). I was ordering from a lovely online shop (Pink Chalk) but the shipping is getting so expensive :(
      I'm following your blog now so I'll be checking back to see what projects you come up with for the rest of the plaid shirts :)
      Cheers!

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    3. believe me, when I fixed mine, I fumbled through it!

      good luck with finding the right fabrics. I've never used Kona Raisin, but it looks really rich and beautiful according to the picture I just looked at online. know shipping can be a pain, especially to Canada, and if you have a quilt shop that will do that, that is priceless! Thanks so much for following me!

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  6. You are correct: it's a manly quilt as it should be. I've found that the key to making a quilt for guys is to use guy colors and fabrics and you are spot-on! What a wonderful way to honor your grandfather. The quilt is stunning and you could not have done better. Enjoy your summer; we finished last week and I am thrilled to be able to quilt any time I want!

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  7. Wow! What a treasure for your family! I love the pattern - it looks great with all of the western style shirt prints!

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  8. What a great quilt, love the family connection! Priceless. I have seen this in a paper pieced pattern. I wonder if that makes it any easier, hmm....

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  9. What a great idea! I love the plaids too.

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  10. What a lovely quilt, I'm sure your dad will treasure it. The checks really emphasise the kaleidoscope effect.

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  11. This turned out fantastic. The design you selected was just perfect for using all these great plaids from your grandfather's shirts. Very special.

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Thanks so much for your comment and for visiting! I read and appreciate every single comment, and I reply to each one as soon as I can. If you don't hear back from me, you might be a no-reply blogger. :)

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