Finish it Up Friday Special Edition: Memory Quilt Revealed

I've been working on some special projects lately. But, they were gifts and until given, could not be shown. Oh how painful it was not to share my progress on these!

Photo by Frolic Photography 2012

Quilt for Trunks

Trunks was a very special pug I came to know through my "pug support group".  Initially through a circle of pug bloggers, and eventually a group on Facebook, we shared our collective love of our pugs, and all things pug. We visited each other and planned events across the country. We didn't chose the pug life...they say, it chose us.   

Of course all pug are special, but there was something so endearing about Trunks, and his mother Demarus.  His mom had a very special love for my senior pug, Foo and we joked about the two "courting."  Our group shared the often silly antics of our pugs, new pugs joining our family, pug gatherings and events. We shared  the unusually high maintenance required by our snout less buddies, and the health concerns unique to our pugs. Occasionally, we shared the loss of a beloved pug.

When Trunks was diagnosed with mast cell rumors, we shared his brave fight against cancer. Once, twice, three times he underwent surgery.   Our circle had fundraisers to make sure he received the chemotherapy he needed.  While his life was extended considerably, he lost his battle with cancer last June.  Our group was collectively heartbroken.

As with so many pugs before him, our group pulled together to create a memory quilt for his family.  Funds were donated to pay for the quilt, with the overage donated to the local pug rescues in Trunk's honor. That's where I come in.  Over the course of many months, I selected a pattern and fabrics that would reflect this handsome  and gentle pug.   A series of photos were then selected and printed onto fabric to be woven into the design. I created a customized label to include all the people who participated. The quilt top was assembled, and finally, quilted.  

Here's what the process looked like.

For this quilt, rather than create my own pattern, I used a great pattern I found in Quilts and More Spring 2013 (pg 85). This made the process much, much easier. While it was more formal and  boxy or structured than I would  normally choose, the large rectangles in the blocks offered the perfect place to drop photos.  Knowing Trunks' mom's love of purple. the  fabric combinations practically jumped of the shelf at my local quilt shop.

The quilt called for 20 blocks. I knew I wanted to use 7 photos, so I made up 13 blocks as instructed. For the remaining 7,  I substituted photos printed onto fabric.


For the back, I'd love to say it was a planned design.   What it was, was poor measurement.   I realized in the 11th hour that it the cut I had would cover only 80% of the back.   So much for my plan of an easy applique of the label.   Using some of the leftover blocks and scraps from the front, I created a band to highlight the quilt label.

For the final photo, I placed  a lovely one
of Trunks with his Mom on the custom label.

With coordinating fabrics,  I extended the backing on hand to fit.  

detail: custom quilt label

I had so much fun quilting this!!   Taking my cue from the large motifs in the focus fabric, I allowed myself to do a medium density doodle style free motion design.   

I had the pleasure of hand delivering this memory quilt to his sweet mom last weekend.

Free motion quilting echoed the
designs of the focus fabric

Goodbye for now, Trunks! 

We'll see you on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.

Finish it up Friday....

Recently, Illinois became the 16th state to legalize same-sex marriage.    Since this affects me in no personal way, I am unsure why it's so important to me.  Does it even matter?   But I was very happy the day it was decided, and even happier the day it was signed into law by Governor Quinn.

But I'm sure everyone can agree, that the design is great.  So great, I HAD to execute it.

And here's how I did it:

Using a jelly roll I had on hand of rainbow hued batiks,  I selected an array of 6 colors.

I trimmed then to 1.5" strips in order to get all the colors in the applique.

I then checked my friend Google, and downloaded an outline of the shape of IL.

Once the strips were joined using scant 1/4" seams, and ironed,

I then ironed my piece to a  fusible product

Then, I placed the shape and pinned it to my fabric and fussy cut along the border

I  ironed my "Illinois" applique to a black background square.

Using straight stitching, and going very slowly, I stay stitched around the border.

If you look very closely, you might notice  some texture within the strips. Lesson learned: iron-on fusible does have a shelf life. And if it's crunchy,  it might give you trouble. 

I'm loving how my vision turned into something finished. Or almost finished......I have no idea what to do with this block now that it's done.   

Ideas, anyone?