The Quilting Hashing Out Thread!

[tuliptree]

From one crazy idea to another! What do you say we move the discussion over here. For anyone interested . . . here's some exerpts:


now those are some boots! the shoe lace idea is cool but there isn't much to get crazy with. i'm gonna buy a shirt and cut it up into pieces and send them out. then i'll sew them all together and have a quilt shirt. hehehe..... hey what if we did a quilt? that would be pretty frickking awesome! everyone could buy a square and go crazy with it. but i guess we would need someone to sew it all together and then there would only be 1 quilt. unless!!!! we have everyone do multiple quilt panals and then everyone would have there own quilt! man i need to get some more of this bud!

I don't think I've ever heard of a guy getting into the idea of a quilt! I guess the right bud will do that to a guy... :D

I sew :D

... even made a few quilts in my day ;)


just putting that out there :D

*hurredly stuffs loads of bits of material into an envelope and mails it to kittie*

Here, catch...

I've made more than a few quilt panels in my day. Some of them can be seen here.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAMES_Project_AIDS_Memorial_Quilt)
I think that would be a cool project, make multiple squares, so everyone ends up with a quilt at the end!

lets do it! i can't sew either :D

Really? Can we get another crazy idea off the ground do you think? I guess the best part of this one is that we'd all take care of creating our own squares. Biggest problem is trying to sew them. And if we get a few people to do the sewing, how much will it be to ship the final results? But I like it...if we could hash out logistics I'd be willing to partake in yet another crazy collaborative adventure!

How about this: While the shoes are skipping around North America, start a thread for the quilt (pun fully intended) and we can start to hash out the details. Just brainstorming until the shoes are done.

What will become of said quilt when done?

I think we were talking about making multiple squares each so that each person participating would end up with a quilt at the end.

No worries Urst. I'm sure my shoe is having a good time hanging out with ya.

One of the nice things about doing the quilting idea, it'll be a lot cheaper to mail a piece of fabric out, than a shoe box. 'Course, come the end of the project, when they all get stitched together, that could get expensive to send out a whole quilt to a person, or is everyone responsible for putting together their own?

i think it would be easier and cheaper to put it together ourselves. just about everyone knows someone who can sew... or learn how too :D

I think Garricks is right...let's start a quilt hashing thread!

hahahaha i can't believe this is actually going to happen!

[Bladez]

Good work tulip :)

Now, what's the best way to decorate a piece of fabric? Does it have to be washable?

[tuliptree]

Good question...depends on what we want the quilt to be right? Do we want a quilt quilt that's soft, or something to hang in the end?

[Virgo Nightingale]

I would say it should be washable, since you never know when you're going to spew your coffee (or other liquid from within thyself) across the room and onto your GDF quilt. ;)

I'm guessing this is a premature question since we don't know exactly who or how many will be involved, but how many squares we talking about? I don't know that I'd want to end up having to put together a quilt for a queen size bed or anything, my sewing skills (and my $30 portable machine) leave much to be desired.

[WannaBrie]

I didn't catch the original discussion, but its a cool idea. Funny, I've been saving all my sons little shirts from Bikeweek and Biketoberfest (I have been buying him at least 3 or 4 at each event every year for the last 9) for years and had planned to make a quilt out of them.

[Audentia]

ha, I totally just talked about the quilt again on the shoe forum...
So I've actually been involved in a quilt exchange before with cross stitch and how we did it was we said that the square you sent have to be a certain size (9x9" was common) and on a specific type of material... but perhaps here we want to be more creative and just have the square be a certain size but the rest is up to the designer?

I think you should be able to at least dry clean the quilt... if not machine wash it.

[Red Kittie Kat]

One thing I noticed. It's been mentioned that everyone participating will be ending up with a quilt.

That is more than mailing out a piece of fabric ;)

[Red Kittie Kat]

ha, I totally just talked about the quilt again on the shoe forum...
So I've actually been involved in a quilt exchange before with cross stitch and how we did it was we said that the square you sent have to be a certain size (9x9" was common) and on a specific type of material... but perhaps here we want to be more creative and just have the square be a certain size but the rest is up to the designer?

I think you should be able to at least dry clean the quilt... if not machine wash it.


Just by regular cotton material. Never had a problem washing it. And my recommendation - DO NOT use stretchy material .. it's a pain in the a$$ ;)

[tuliptree]

One thing I noticed. It's been mentioned that everyone participating will be ending up with a quilt.

That is more than mailing out a piece of fabric ;)

True, though it'll be much less than the cost of mailing a shoe, even if 50 people participated that's only the cost of 50 letters, less than $25 US, not bad if you end up with a gdf quilt! :)

[Audentia]

The other costs involved will be on the side of the person making the quilt... you have to sew it together... and then if you want it to be like a "real" quilt it needs to backing or stuffing and then to be basted together... it gets complicated fast... however usually in most places you can pay someone to do this for you. Here in Calgary it would run you about $125CDN to get this done by someone depending on the size of the quilt (you have to sew the squares together yourself first)

[Typically]

i'm going to make a whole bunch of YUM's :D

[Red Kittie Kat]

As Audentia just pointed out .. it's not just a piece of material. It's batting and a backing piece as well.

Everyone is going to have to confirm a size square and thickness of batting since here are several different thicknesses.

Then we need to decide who is going to assemble all the pieces and in turn will be responsible for mailing out the completed quilts.

I'm not trying to be a kill joy ... just that this isn't as easy peezy as it appears.

All stuff that needs to be kept in mind.

[Mynock]

Are you going to make a snuggie?

[Red Kittie Kat]

I just wear my bathrobe backwards :D

[Typically]

what if we all sewed up our own quilts? i know my mom would be able to help me out and i also have some lady friends that are handy with a needle. getting it into a full blown quilt with stuffing will be your own responsibility making this not too expensive of an activity. as long as we get enough serious people to do this it would be cool. it doesn't have to be a big quilt either. it could be something to hang up on the wall or a kittie blanket :D

[Red Kittie Kat]

I think that would work better ... so all we make is enough squares to be shared among the participants and mail them to each or the quilters.

Sounds like a chain letter lmao :p

We will probably end up with a wall hanging. But, if we do assemble them ourselves we can always add more squares to make it bigger.

[tuliptree]

Exactly what I was starting to think . . . have all the participants be responsible for making enough squares for each of the other participants and for mailing them to everyone. Should be equal across the board for the most part. After that, what you do with the squares and who assembles it is up to the individual.

Typically, I think you'll still just end up with a bunch of quilt squares tangled up in your beard! :D

[Audentia]

this sounds like it would work fairly well.. keep it simple what is sent out and then what the person on the other end decides to do with the squares is up to them.

[Bladez]

I'll varnish each and every square, and just nail 'em to my wall in random places, and random angles :)

Should we be green and use all natural inks, and hemp based fabric in case Typ ends up turning one into a rollie?

[Virgo Nightingale]

*Pictures Typically smoking the quilt and wondering why it tastes like he licked the inside of the dryer vent*

[Audentia]

I'll varnish each and every square, and just nail 'em to my wall in random places, and random angles :)

you've just lost every single decorating privilege or opinion you might have been granted at the new house. congratulations.

[Bladez]

hahahah!

[Virgo Nightingale]

Beware! The compromise in my house has been that I get to decorate the walls (and he doesn't get to plaster the living room walls with Dream Theater and Star Wars stuff), but he gets to decorate the floor: boxes upon boxes of old videotapes and CDs, a dozen guitars, etc. He's a bit of a pack-rat and we've run out of storage space.

[tuliptree]

Oh no, you two are going to end up on an HGTV decorating war telly show, aren't you??

[Virgo Nightingale]

I would love to, but I'd rather I owned the place than rented it. Plus, I watch that stuff all the time and he busts on me for it constantly. Imagine if I said to him, "Hey honey, let's be on one of those 'watching-paint-dry' shows you love sooo much!!"

[tuliptree]

LOL!! Well, if you end up on one, be sure to let us all know, I'll bring popcorn! :p

[Virgo Nightingale]

Of course I would! ;)

[Typically]

*Pictures Typically smoking the quilt and wondering why it tastes like he licked the inside of the dryer vent*

cough cough man this stuff is harsh!

this sounds like a pretty good plan. once we set size and material we can get a list of participants and get to quilting!... i never thought i'd say that phrase

[Bladez]

LOL @ Typically

Your mother must be so proud.

"Hey Ma! I'ma git started on my quilting praw-ject!"

[tuliptree]

once we set size and material we can get a list of participants and get to quilting!... i never thought i'd say that phrase


QOTW material!!! (pun intended!!)

[Bladez]

QOTW = Quilt of the week?

[tuliptree]

QOTWFTW! (Now, with ROFLS!)

[Drazan]

I'm in!!

Also for those who don't sew. You can call around to tailors, costume places, and quilt/fabric stores to find someone who will sew it up.

Jade

[Virgo Nightingale]

Now, what exactly would we have to do to the squares (aside from decorating) before sending them out? I was just figuring on decorating the square and it would be up to the recipient to sew them together and take care of the batting, etc. I've never quilted before (though I did upholster the inside of a wooden chest!) so I don't know what gets done to each square before sewing them together...

[Audentia]

What's important is that the edges don't fry while being designed, shipped etc. to get to their destination. So either people need to pick a material that doesn't fray or they have to get the edges sewn up (or masking tape or something) so that fraying doesn't happen.
And then of course they have to leave a large enough border so that you can cut off that part of the square on the recipient side and put the quilt together.

But yeah Virgo I'd say, decorate, ensure no-fraying, ship.
I'm so excited about having a quilt! (well really two if Bladez is in too) our house will be full of GDF designed stuff!

[budafist]

I'll be happy to decorate and mail out 20 or so squares of fabric with bunnies and buddhas :)

Or maybe if I finish mine early, I can send the US ones to someone in the states and they can post out to the others with their own squares? Hence having 2 squares instead of 1 in the envelope?

And everyone can send that contact 2 squares instead of one and that person can send 1 parcel to me?

[Typically]

i want a buda bunny! i'll send a YUM your way :D

[Virgo Nightingale]

That might work buda... I'd love to have one of your aminal characters!!

[Red Kittie Kat]

Ok who wants some gold lame' or silver sequined squares?


:D

[Virgo Nightingale]

Damn Kittie, I just gave away a whole bunch of beads that would have been perfect for ya!

[budafist]

Kittie, sparkley squares will be awesome!

I don't know anything about quilting though I'm going to sew them together by hand (in front of the tv, after the wedding), but will we need to include like a bleed or margin? Say half an inch (or a cm) so that we can sew the pieces together without losing anything vital?

[Red Kittie Kat]

aww ... I'll figure something out sparkly ;)

[Red Kittie Kat]

If all the squares are 9x9 consider a 1/2 inch as seam width

[tuliptree]

I'd love a buda square!!!! And a sparkley one too!

[tuliptree]

I'll be happy to decorate and mail out 20 or so squares of fabric with bunnies and buddhas :)

Or maybe if I finish mine early, I can send the US ones to someone in the states and they can post out to the others with their own squares? Hence having 2 squares instead of 1 in the envelope?

And everyone can send that contact 2 squares instead of one and that person can send 1 parcel to me?

I just re-read your post Buda, makes perfect sense! I'd be happy to do that if no one else is already.

[urstwile]

Here's a possible wrench or different idea to throw into the mix. What if instead of GDF members ending up with quilts, we leveraged it into something for a charitable cause, kinda like the calendar we did to raise money for Ana?

[Red Kittie Kat]

Well since I didn't get to get a shoe around I was looking forward to a quilt lol

Call me selfish ... I wanted something from all you guys ;)

[urstwile]

It was just a thought Kat.

Since I know nothing about quilting, how hard would it be to do something where the pieces were smaller than a traditional quilt. Say each group ended up with a 12" x 12" "quilt" they could hang on their wall?

Just tossing ideas out there. :)

[tuliptree]

I like the idea of doing something charitable, urst! Can't we do both? Quilts for all participants, and then if every one of us does a few extra squares, and sends them someone who knows how to quilt that would be willing to put them together, we could have maybe two or three quilts to auction or something?

[Typically]

i'd be willing to do a few extra squares for a charity one but like kittie i'd like one for myself from all you guys too :D

[Bladez]

I agree. A charitable one is a great idea! But having my own would be fantastic too. Audentia and I are going to have a house just full of GDF art projects! I love it :)

I'd be willing to do an extra square or 2 to make some charity quilts.

[Audentia]

Bladez and I are quite excited about our house being decorated with GDF items! We were in fact discussing it last night (as we continued to clean... move day is in two days for us!)

I am also willing to do some extra squares up for charity. And we can donate them via an organization (there are a few in North American that I know of that do up quilts) or into our local children's hospitals if we send them to a few different locations...

Question: Are we allowed to add beads, sparkly stuff, stitching etc to our squares?
I think this would be a good addition as opposed to just being decorated with ink...

I am more than willing to help organize this in anyway needed.

[tuliptree]

If it were up to me, I think beads, sparkly stuff, or whatever inspires the creator would be fantastic!

[Virgo Nightingale]

I think adding anything your heart desires is kinda the reason to do this in the first place! :D Though I think as mentioned earlier, it should still be washable in some way, even if it's dry-clean only.

[Red Kittie Kat]

so no sewing on strips of bacon


:D

[Virgo Nightingale]

Unless you want your dog to eat your GDF quilt. Or you want to attempt eating it yourself.

[tuliptree]

LMAO!! Guinness would eat it in a second! In fact, he'd eat it even if there weren't bacon and guac on it. He eats his own webbed collars!

Now me, while typically would roll his quilt and smoke it, I'd roll mine and stuff it with beans and guac and salsa and snack on it. None of this plain quilt stuff. It needs sauce!

[garricks]

I would point out that beads and other small possible choking hazards = not good for donating to a children's hospital. IYKWIM. ;)

[tuliptree]

You're an awesome badger, Garricks. Good thinking. Though I suppose that the auction quilt squares could be different than what we'd do for the GDF personal quilts.

One other thought regarding the ones for auction, since there would be additional costs associated (batting etc as has been mentioned) we'd probably all want to kick in to help take care of those costs so that those who are putting it together don't bear that cost alone...something else to hash out!

[Red Kittie Kat]

This is already getting complicated ... I say keep it simpleeeeee

First we were doing something among ourselves now we are donating to childrens hospitals??

:confused:

[Calligirl]

My mother-in-law makes quilts so if you have any technical questions, I will be happy to ask her. She currently has a quilt that won some contest and is touring the country so I guess that means she's pretty good.

One thing I do know that allowing for a seam allowance is pretty important. I tried a quilt project once with 1" squares and a quarter inch seam allowance, ended up with a half inch square! (Duh, quarter inch ALL the way around...I felt so stupid).

I like the idea. It could be the GD version of the Artist Trading Cards fad.

[disneyhippie]

I'm in. I like the idea of doing two or three - one for ourselves and others for charity - but as Kittie (I think) pointed out, that seems kind of complicated. What about doing the first ones for those who want to participate, then depending on how it goes, we could consider doing more for charities?

Several of you have already mentioned what I have come to find are your "trademarks" (yum, bunnies, sparklies, etc.). I would like the idea of everyone doing something representative of themselves or their screennames.

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. Definitely interested in the project, whichever way it goes.

[Tea]

I have it made with my screen name. I can go with tea cups, tea pots, tea bags, or the letter T. Life is good.

[garricks]

You're an awesome badger, Garricks. Good thinking.

Unfortunately, I learned that the hard way, when I worked in the Emergency Room. People weren't very aware of choking hazards back then. :(

The other thing I was thinking, most hospitals have an auxiliary that does fundraising. We could donate it/them to the auxiliary to be auctioned or raffled off!

Another good thing to know: Don't donate previously-owned plush/soft/cloth toys to a hospital for the patients. Most can't be properly sterilized to actually give to the kids. The best thing to do is donate cash to the hospital's social work department, and tell them you'd like the donation to be used to make the kids' hospital stay more fun. :D

Cliff Klaven moment over. ;)

[Drazan]

Here's who posted to the thread - just for a head count.

tuliptree
Bladez
Virgo Nightingale
WannaBrie
Audentia
Red Kittie Kat
Typically
Drazan
budafist
Red Kittie Kat
urstwile
garricks
disneyhippie
Mynock
Calligirl
Tea
doctorfoz
NTLemon

And here's a chart to determine how many squares and of what size that it will take to make a quilt.
http://www.thequiltcenter.com/measure.htm

Jade

[tuliptree]

Awesome info Jade, thank you!

[doctorfoz]

you can add my name to the list and, like Buda, it may be easier if I packaged all mine up and sent them over the pond en-bloc. However (and here's the twist folks) I wouldn't want any sent to me. I would just be happy knowing that somewhere out there a couple of dozen or so of my friends were all, in some way, snuggling up to a little bit of me.

(Further note: reading through the whole of this thread, the expression "designed by committee" springs to mind. It's normally the poor graphic designers who have to sort out the mess caused by other people's brainstorming*!)

*insert marketing speak buzzword here

[tuliptree]

Aww, yay! A Foz square to add to the mix!

See, if you had a GDF quilt, you'd be all snuggly sleeping right now and not up at 3 am!

Hehehe @ design by committee. At least we're all in the driver's seats controlling the chaos this time, right?

[doctorfoz]

controling the chaos? hmmmm.

who's going to preflight all the squares?
PD, I believe that's your area of expertise....?

[tuliptree]

controling the chaos?

An oxymoronic phrase isn't it!

[NTLemon]

I'd love to spare a square if it looks like this thing will happen. Sounds like fun.

[Audentia]

would it be best if we started out with quilts for each other... (I love the idea of them being representations of ourselves) and then if successful moved onto the charity one later in the year? I know that coming up with 30 squares right now right away is a bit much for a lot of people (including myself) nevermind having to do extra ones... ?

[tuliptree]

I think that would be a good way to go...we could test the process out on ourselves, and then if we get into a groove, we can move on to phase two.

[budafist]

True!

Also, I might be a while with mine. I've got lots of wedding DIY crafty bits and pieces to do in the next 2 months.

[Bladez]

That's unacceptable Buda. We can't allow you to participate anymore. You're shunned and banished.....

Ok, maybe not. But that's just because we like ya ;)

[disneyhippie]

I agree with Audentia and budafist. We're going to have a lot of squares to do and I'm also busy with other projects as I'm sure most of you are. (At least I'm pretty sure you don't all sit around reading GDF all day.)

When we iron out the details, would it be a good idea to set a deadline? At least as a target date, maybe they don't all have to be done by then. I know I work a lot better with deadlines. Hmmm....maybe I should get started now...

[budafist]

That's unacceptable Buda. We can't allow you to participate anymore. You're shunned and banished.....

Ok, maybe not. But that's just because we like ya ;)

Maybe I could see if I could postpone the wedding so I can decorate some fabric squares. I'll keep you posted...

[NTLemon]

(At least I'm pretty sure you don't all sit around reading GDF all day.)

Well, not all day.

[Red Kittie Kat]

Just most of it :p

[Drazan]

heh, I'm cheating. I'm doing a digital painting and printing it on some fabric, or transfers at work. :p

[Bladez]

that's a great idea Jade :D

[budafist]

That is smart!

Stencils could be fun too :)

[Audentia]

So we have 17 people so far... an even 20 would probably make the for easiest to put together a quilt... though you could always do filler for it anyways (and that is assuming you do a square for your own quilt).

However I think the 9x9" square are going to be a bit big for this group... perhaps we should downsize to 5x5" or even 3x3".
A 9x9" would be a 15ft quilt... huge.
A 5x5" would be just over an 8ft quilt... also pretty big (but good for a double bed)
A 3x3" would be 5ft. Probably the most manageable.

Comments on the best size to use?

Also in terms of material I went back through the thread... it sounds like using a machine washable material.. some sort of cotton, polyester or whatever would be best. you can decorate how you like but make sure it can be washed (so don't use markers that aren't safe to wash or anything that will run). You want to be sure to wash your squares before you decorate them so that if the material is going to shrink it does it ahead of time instead of messing things up later.

Also need that bleed! Just like any good design project. No matter the size of square we choose a 1" bleed should do us all the way around (1/2" would probably be fine but as a lot of people are new to the world of quilting more is always better!)

Alright... continuing comments on this one.... but looks we are getting close to a final idea for this one.

As for deadlines.... need to give people lots of time to deal with making 20 squares... so maybe like September or something? Take most of 2009 to have it done and sent and then everyone can show off their quilts in 2010? Comments on this?

Phew... that was a lot of information... my apologies.

[tuliptree]

All good thoughts Audentia! I agree, we should make a reasonable deadline for everyone to get their squares together. September would work for me.

As for size, I will do whatever seems best, I have no quilting knowledge whatsoever so I defer to our resident experts!

One thing we might want to consider is having one point person compiling a list of participants with their addresses so we aren't sending 8 million crisscrossing emails. I'd be willing to take that on if it would make things simpler?

[Audentia]

This thread went to the wayside... so in an attempt to revitalize it.
Are people still interested in this?

[tuliptree]

Oh, good idea Audentia! I was thinking about this the other day. I'm still interested!

[Bladez]

yea, threads tend to disappear from time to time. Usually they just need a bit of a bump to get people back on track with them.

[Tea]

Sounds like a great summer project for me. I'll need to re-read through the thread after the end of April. Until then, my calendar is solid.

[Typically]

im still down to do it

[budafist]

I'm keen but with only a month to go until the wedding, I'm going to be crafting it up in other ways.

[disneyhippie]

I was just thinking about this the other day too. I'd still like to participate.

[Audentia]

Okay... more details...

Tuliptree and I have figured out a potential way to do this and come up with some deadlines based on feedback... so here it is. (comments always welcome on ways to make this better)

The Size: We are going to go with a 3x3" square. You need to add 1" after the design for "bleed" so that the squares can be sewn together. (you can add more "bleed" if you want it doesn't matter so long as it is at least 1" and the designed area is 3")

Material choices: It is up to you, but please keep in mind that material shrinks when washed so washing it first is best! Also please ensure that your piece can be washed... sparkles and glitter are good, but sequins are better as they can be stitched to the piece. glitter comes off in the wash. If you have questions about what will work or won't work you can PM me or ask on the thread. I have done a few of these in the past on a different forum (for stitching) and they work great when done with care.

Deadline: sounds like we all need some time (and 30 squares is alot to design)... so I think the end of the Summer would be best. So the deadline would be August 31, 2009.

Where to send them to: Tuliptree and I have agreed that it would be best to ship them all to one address and have those people ship to each individual from there. it will cost less overall and be more efficient. Tuliptree is located in the US so she will be the contact for all American shipping. I will be the contact for everyone else in the world (Canada, UK, Australia etc.)
We would like to ask that you please help us out with the final shipping costs that TulipTree and I will have to all the individual members if possible. We can figure out something via Paypal or cheques to mail later.

Whose in: Finally... the list of those in.
tuliptree (in)
Bladez (in)
Virgo Nightingale
WannaBrie
Audentia (in)
Red Kittie Kat
Typically (in)
Drazan
budafist (in)
Red Kittie Kat
urstwile
garricks
disneyhippie (in)
Mynock (out)
Calligirl
Tea (in)
doctorfoz
NTLemon

We would want to keep the number to 20 at a maximum so that we have manageable quilts. So I have two more spots.
If you are on this list and no longer want to particpate please let me know.
If you are not on this list and want to be also let me know.
Keep in mind you will need to design 20 squares total. Not just one.

Okay... questions or comments let me know. But sounds like we are a good ahead. Hope this is clear and makes sense!

[Mynock]

I don't quilt. I'm not in. I just made a snuggie comment.

[Audentia]

Thanks for letting us know Mynock! :)

[tuliptree]

Do we need to start a Sign my Snuggie thread for you Mynock? :p

Thanks for posting that Audentia...I think it all sounds good to me. I needed some guidelines since I've never done a quilt before so this is great!

[disneyhippie]

Thanks Audentia and Tuliptree for putting everything together :)
Now I need to get started!

[tuliptree]

We have to thank Typically for the original suggestion, and I have to thank Audentia for being on the ball and getting things moving! :)

[Audentia]

And of course to Tuliptree for being our American side contact when we get to shipping!

Can people please let me know for sure if they are still in so I can update our list and confirm the number. :) Thanks!

[Virgo Nightingale]

I'm still in. :)

[Typically]

Woot woot! gotta love those random stoned ideas :D

i'm still in

[Kool]

Just so you know I moved "Quilting-Hashing-Out-Thread: and the "Sign my shoe" threads to our long neglected GDF calendar project forum. I asked the admins to change the name to "GDF Collaborative Projects" This way these threads will be easier to find, won't have to add to the already long list of stickys and if a side thread is needed it can be posted without getting lost in all the the other off topic stuff. :)

[Audentia]

That's great Kool!
Thanks. :)

[budafist]

I'm in :)

[disneyhippie]

I'm in. Thanks Kool for making this easier to find :)

[budafist]

Thanks Kool!

[urstwile]

I'm on the fence about whether or not I'm in or not. Mainly because I don't know that I have the skills to pull this off.

[Bladez]

Don't worry Urst, I'm just gonna get a piece of Material, decorate it in some shape, way or form and send it out. Once I have all my pieces, I'll just find somebody to put it all together for me. *LOL* I'm sure you could find somebody to do the same for ya :)

[Audentia]

Bladez will find someone... why do i have a bad feeling that "someone" is about two inches away from you every night?

Urst: you could just collect the pieces and make a collage with them... actually putting together the quilt is not necessary. Once you have the pieces they are yours to do with as you please.... though sacrificial burning may be frowned upon. :)

[Bladez]

Bladez will find someone... why do i have a bad feeling that "someone" is about two inches away from you every night?

Crap....how do you know about her?!?!? I thought I was keeping the secret pretty well.

[Audentia]

I thought I was keeping the secret pretty well.

you're crappy at keeping secrets dear. but nice try. i knew there was a fairy all along. :D

[Red Kittie Kat]

I'm on the fence myself. Now I see it's 30 squares. I'm not really sure I have that much time.

I need to think about it a bit longer.

[Audentia]

Right now it's 18 squares Red Kittie Kat... if that helps you decide. :)

[Grfk Dzgn]

I'm in!!

I can't sew a stitch, but I have a seamstress who can do wonders with needle and thread!

Are we still at 18, 3"x3" (plus a 1/2" over lap), squares??

Red Kittie Kat - your sensational dazzle blingness will well balance the type theme I have in mind for my squares.

[Calligirl]

I'm in...late, I know...question is, what am I in? :rolleyes:

Calligirl

[disneyhippie]

I've been thinking about what kind of material to use. Several of us have mentioned intentions of making t-shirt quilts. I was thinking of using the leftover material from shirts that have only single sided graphics. Thoughts?

[tuliptree]

I was going to ask the same thing DH! I am considering doing one large painting and cutting it down into squares, so everyone has a little part of the same creation. Though canvas would be too heavy for a quilt, so I'm looking into something more lightweight and something I don't need to gesso. I'm researching my options, but any suggestions are welcome!

[disneyhippie]

I haven't yet decided if I'm going to go the t-shirt route, but thought I'd share this for anyone else who might be thinking about it.

Start by preparing your T- shirts. Wash them (don't use fabric softener) and take them apart, removing knitted cuffs and neckband so they lay flat. Since they are pretty stretchy, you will want to iron on some non woven fusible interfacing (http://quiltbus.com/stabilizers.htm) to stabilize them. Don't use a stretchy interfacing made for knits. Read the package - some interfacing needs to be pre-shrunk to avoid problems after fusing. If you are going to use your T shirts without sashing, you may want to staystitch the edges by stitching 1/8" away from the side. If you are using cotton fabric for sashing, you can skip this step. -- http://quiltbug.com/Articles/Tshirt-quilts.htm

[Calligirl]

What's the latest on the quilt project? Is it progressing or have we lost momentum?

I don't know about the t-shirt thing, by the way. I use all my left over t-shirts for rags in my art studio.

[tuliptree]

Oh my! This has been so neglected! I've been afraid to open this box of worms because it's been such a crazy summer and I haven't had any time to think about it....but is anyone interested in seeing this through, but maybe with a later due date, such as make it a fall/winter project?

Audentia, I've been so bad at getting this moving again like we discussed! My apologies! I hope you're still on board?

[budafist]

I have time on my hands now if this is still going!

[tuliptree]

Oh goodie! How does everyone feel about a late November deadline?

[Audentia]

Tulip - do we have a final list?

I have lost the working list we had... must have gotten eaten by my desk during the summer.
Perhaps we need to start a new and see who is still in.
Right now that would be:

Buda
Tulip
Audentia

(and we need to cap at no more than 20 for sure, I'm even tempted to say 15 so that people are not overwhelmed with squares... thoughts?)

[Virgo Nightingale]

I'm gonna have to back out. I've got too much going on right now. Sowwy!

[Typically]

yea i dunno if i'm going to be able to do this either. sorry guys

[tuliptree]

No final list over here Audentia, maybe a refresher role call is in order.

Sorry to lose you Virgo and Typ, but I totally understand!

[Audentia]

Okay... refresher list it is...
So confirmed we have:
Tulip
Audentia
Buda

Out we have:
Virgo
Typically
(sad but I understand guys no worries)

Alright everyone... if you want to be in you need to REPOST here please. :)

[disneyhippie]

Thanks for bumping this. I've been wondering about it myself. Without a comp, I definitely have time one my hands! Though I probably won't be able to follow through with my original plan, count me in still! I'm working on another idea.

[budafist]

When we get this together, can we have a brief so we know the sizing and stuff.

I'll have to get mine to someone in the US early so that they can send out mine with theirs to save me having to send 1 to each person...although I have some stamps leftover from the wedding so maybe I could just use those up depending on how much postage is these days.

[Audentia]

Buda you can send all yours to me in Canada and I'll send out from there. I already have to send out Bladez and I and probably some other Canada or International (non-US) ones so no worries.
Yes as soon as I have at least ten people good to go then I will send out a document to all that has the specifications etc on it. Great idea. :)

[Bladez]

I'm sure I can come up with SOMETHING to put on a square....

Everybody's quilts are gonna have coconut bras!!!!
well...perhaps...we shall see

[tuliptree]

Thanks for getting thoughts together again Audentia! I'm still on board to be the single destination for US participants and can re distribute the squares that come to me.

Could your sheet include logistics too Audi?

I think once plans are in place it should be pretty smooth, everyone will have roughly 3 months to create the squares and mailing will be much cheaper than the shoes.

Fun stuff!

[Audentia]

My sheet can include anything you need. ;)
No problem.

[Typically]

don't count me totally out yet! i'm still on the fence :D

[Audentia]

Can I nudge you on the side of doing it?
It will be awesome... at least I believe so! :)

[Typically]

hehe i'm leaning towards yes but can't totally commit yet :D

[disneyhippie]

Hey Typically, at least if we push you to our side, you'll have a soft quilt to land on :D

[Typically]

hehehe

[tuliptree]

Lol DH! Come to the quilt side Typically, we want Yum squares! :D

Oh excellent Audi, hmmm....could the sheet also include chocolate? And a mimosa? :p

[Drazan]

**waves hand**

Count me in. Though I'm still going to do a printed square.

:)
Jade

[tuliptree]

Yay Drazan!

[Audentia]

*bump*
Still taking people...

[Audentia]

*bump*
Are we a go for this project from people... or is it just dead in the water cause it's a bit too much work?

[tuliptree]

I'm good for a november finish date. And you know what, now that I think about it, I say we sound a finish horn at the end of November, and whoever has them done great, if we have enough for quilts then perfect! But if we don't have enough squares for a quilt we could all just send them to each other as patches that we can sew on something else, don't you think?

Edit: thinking through more, maybe we can take head counts here and there to see how many we need to make...start out with the original quilt goal number....though I don't' want this to take the steam out of getting enough participants to make the quilt...ideas?

[budafist]

Oh are we started already?

Can we sort out a brief?

[disneyhippie]

I like tulip's idea to just see how many we have now and start there. Maybe this can be a starter and every 6 months or so see if there's any more interest.

I keep reminding myself to get started, but am not real sure how. Does someone have some sort of brief? I seem to remember someone putting a bit of something together earlier this year.

[Typically]

quilting isn't a very pirate like thing to be doing. maybe we can make flags? or bandannas :D

[Drazan]

Quilt basics:

1) if you want to do an "interesting" material, back it with a standard quilting cotton. quilt cotton does not have any stretch and is resistant to shrinking. If you have an interesting fabric wash and dry it before starting your project, this will take any sizing and preshrink it so that if someone does need to wash the quilt in the future they won't have this odd square shriveled up. Interesting fabrics would be t-shirt, Sweatshirt, jeans, common button shirts, flanels and really anything that is not a quilt cotton.

2) When we have enough people committed then we can figure out if it is a 9 block or 12 block and what size these blocks need to be.

3) If you are painting on fabric, please stop by the local craft store and pick up either real fabric paint (apple barrel is popular) or a sizing agent to mix into acrylic paint. If not the paint will not bond with the fabric and it will peal away.

4) stitching, ties, buttons, etc should be double tied to avoid being unraveled. And if there are sequins or beads please tied off every few beads. Just in case if the thread breaks we won't loose all the beads or whatever ornaments you are using. Also use a quilting thread as this is strong thread and will wear better than common sewing thread. you can also use yarn (non-wool), or embroidery floss, ribbons, etc. Please void using wool, tweed, linen, and felt ties. These do not wear well.

5) Leave a large hem of 3/4" to 1" this will allow any odd non-square edges to matchup, especially if you have used a cotton backed "interesting" fabric.


That's my tips.

Jade

[Drazan]

I'm still doing a printed design on a block. We are getting our new DTG printer next week so I can print on black or any color really - it has white ink base.

I'm still undecided exactly what I want. But it will be a digital painting of some sort.

:)
Jade

[tuliptree]

^Cool Jade!

Ok kids, Audi and I had a little pow wow to try to keep this on task. She is heading into a busy time at work, so we thought it might be best to move the deadline once more (January 31, 2010). This will also allow anyone else who is on the fence to maybe decide to join in in the meantime. We're still unsure exactly who all is doing this, except for a few of you (Buda, Disney, Jade...anyone else?)

Here is what she initially worked up so if you want to get started on your squares:


Okay... more details...

Tuliptree and I have figured out a potential way to do this and come up with some deadlines based on feedback... so here it is. (comments always welcome on ways to make this better)

The Size: We are going to go with a 3x3" square. You need to add 1" after the design for "bleed" so that the squares can be sewn together. (you can add more "bleed" if you want it doesn't matter so long as it is at least 1" and the designed area is 3")

Material choices: It is up to you, but please keep in mind that material shrinks when washed so washing it first is best! Also please ensure that your piece can be washed... sparkles and glitter are good, but sequins are better as they can be stitched to the piece. glitter comes off in the wash. If you have questions about what will work or won't work you can PM me or ask on the thread. I have done a few of these in the past on a different forum (for stitching) and they work great when done with care.

Deadline: sounds like we all need some time (and 30 squares is alot to design)... so I think the end of the Summer would be best. So the deadline would be (NOTE CHANGE) January 31, 2010.

Where to send them to: Tuliptree and I have agreed that it would be best to ship them all to one address and have those people ship to each individual from there. it will cost less overall and be more efficient. Tuliptree is located in the US so she will be the contact for all American shipping. I will be the contact for everyone else in the world (Canada, UK, Australia etc.)
We would like to ask that you please help us out with the final shipping costs that TulipTree and I will have to all the individual members if possible. We can figure out something via Paypal or cheques to mail later.


So that said, there's the info, 3x3 squares with at least 1" bleed area. I think the best thing would be to adhere to those dimensions, so now you know what to work with size wise.

Then...If you're in, if you can post up once more to give us a better idea of how many are participating (minus Buda, Jade and Disney since I think we've confirmed you). If it changes up a bit in the mean time we can be flexible, because there is a lot to coordinate.

Perhaps anyone who is "in" for sure right now should start by aiming to create 6 squares to start. If it grows, we can each create some more as needed, we've got some time.

We'll deal with the shipping part later after we get this rolling.

It'll be fun, so if you decide to get creative all over a piece of fabric, go for it!

[tuliptree]

Typically, why don't you create some 3x3 bandanas? :D

[Typically]

are we talking 3 feet or 3 inches? :D

[Audentia]

3 inches! :)

[Bladez]

play it safe Typ....3 feet x 3 inches. ;)

[Audentia]

play it safe Typ....3 feet x 3 inches. ;)

I once had a misunderstanding when I worked with plotter printing... the first number they gave us was in feet... so we assumed the second number was too... bad assumption it was in fact in inches. It was an epic fail when we started printing and realized we had about 20X more paper than needed for the job. :(

[Typically]

play it safe Typ....3 feet x 3 inches. ;)

ahhh spliff sized :D

[tuliptree]

Lol!! Be careful, we all know how the Stonehenge replica went down...

[budafist]

Yay! Oh, I have lots of fabric at home from my upholstery class. You guys will probably get a square to match the chairs I am recovering...