Friday, October 26, 2012

Blogger's Quilt Festival

My last couple festival quilts were for nephews.  I haven't had any new nephews, or nieces for that matter, so I had to branch out.  This one was for a brother.  It's not my latest and greatest, but it's pretty stinkin' awesome, says me. 
Behold, the Scrabble Quilt.
way too big for my house! no room to lay flat enough to not be wrinkled
 My brother was going to be turning thirty and I decided he needed something significant to mark the occasion.  He's not married, so I didn't have to factor in a wife's sense of style.  This one is all him.  I've since vicariously decorated for him, but this was the first time I did, I think.

 I am a detail person, so after bringing my Scrabble board fabric shopping and a lot of math I got to it.  I wanted the game area to be the size of the top of his mattress, a CA King.  (Yeah, it's that big.)  I couldn't quite make it to scale.  I decided to have the white sashing finish at 1/2' rather than 5/8.'  The squares finish at 5 inches. 
with my Scrabble board
 The little triangles gave me some trouble.  I had originally planned on piecing them into the sashing.  But with two little kids and then one on the way, the pieced triangles didn't happen.  They are all appliqued on.  By the end I was very much done with the triangles.  I counted them at one point, but I really don't want to know how many it was.  If you wanna do the math, here ya go: the red and dark blue each have twelve and the pink and light blue each have eight.  I zig zag stitched each one onto my quilt top.
I love seeing all the seams on the back of a quilt top
 Once it was assembled, I bust out my gigantoor hoop and got to quilting.  I'm a hand quilter and it wasn't exactly a fast process.  I think it took me a few months to go around every square.  And because of the sashing, it really was around every square, and I had to flare around all those stinkin' triangles.
I was torn on whether or not to include the DOUBLE WORD SCORE type stuff or not.  I decided not.  I went for subtle Scrabble; Scrabbelegance if you will.  I did put the star in the center though, it just needed it, the whole balance of the thing just felt off without it.
It's a CA King size bed quilt, which means it's gigantic.  I couldn't really find a place to take pics of it, there was snow outside, and I was way too excited to wait for my husband to get home to enlist his help.  I didn't take nearly enough pictures.  Someday I'll have to visit it, I mean visit my brother.
I only just this week figured out how I'll someday do the game tiles.  Felt! I had been brainstorming a zillion miniquilts, but then I decided felt is so the way to go.  And it will hide seams on the back piece so I don't have to worry about cheaters.  I decided that when my brother gets married, I'll send them Scrabble tiles. Now I'll just have to come up with some kind of little trays...

quilt measurements:102 x 102 inches
special techniques: applique, hand quilting
quilted by: me! by hand
best category: bed quilt
entry number: 140

be sure to head back to the festival to check out more, but remember to check your watch occasionally, just sayin'...

and for an added bonus, here's the pic my brother sent when I asked him for another for the festival.
See why we vicariously decorate?  Apparently I need to make him a headboard next.  Sigh.  Brothers.

35 comments:

Taya@TypeB said...

That is the bomb! Love the Scrabbelegance!! Really great idea on the little triangles, as well. Thanks so much for sharing!

Canadian Abroad said...

Cool idea, beautifully executed.

Linda at Roscoe's Ma said...

This is a great quilt! Love it!

M-R Charbonneau said...

You are awesome, Amanda. I love your sense of humour! Fabulous, fabulous quilt!

Anonymous said...

As a hand quilter and a scrabble champion trophy holder, this is perhaps my favorite quilt ever. I'm in love. You have a very lucky brother.

Marci Girl said...

What a great quilt, and congrats to you for hand quilting that baby, that is A LOT of work!

Sue SA said...

Awesome effort, A+ for original design and hand quilting this monster sized quilt - love it!

Alison V. said...

What a fun quilt! :)

needle and nest said...

I'm in love with this quilt! You have one very lucky brother!! :)

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

I am enthralled, amazed and motivated! This quilt just rocks. I need to make one for me, one for my daughter and on and on!!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful creation.

LittleWhiteDove said...

That is such a cool idea! I'm thinking a picnic sized one could be the perfect addition to our camping kit...

Susana Neiger said...

This is an awesome quilt. I'm pretty sure it's the reason I started noticing your blog around the time I started blogging. And, thanks to inspiration from this quilt, my daughter is now brainstorming a Monopoly quilt ... no words, just the ever-recognizable colors, and possibly train appliques ...

CitricSugar said...

Very cool! For his next birthday, you can make him a set of letter tiles. :-)

Mary said...

I want to make one with my grandchildren's names on it.

Pomegranate Quilts said...

Love the Scrabbelegance of this beauty! Understated Gaming Awesomeness. Lucky brother!

Rachaeldaisy said...

This is so brilliant!! It makes me want to play scrabble!

Carol E. said...

Very clever, and made with so much love! I hope he cherishes it. Looks like he could use some pillows, too, as long as you are vicariously decorating. We can all have some input, as long as it is vicarious. LOL

Sunshine Girl said...

What a fabulous idea and such a wonderful quilt! like the way you are going to visit it one day soon! Thanks for sharing. #263

quilthexle said...

No wonder you became tired of all those little triangles ... Super quilt, your brother is a lucky guy !!!

The Cozy Pumpkin said...

The novelty of this is GREAT!

Jean Cheszek said...

That is so fun...now you need to do an encore in a "Words with Friends" version ;)

Sarah said...

Brilliant! I really want to do one for MY brother now.... lol

Gretchen said...

What a creative idea so well executed!

Megan said...

wow that's awesome! it really is the little details that make something really great.

Lyanna L. said...

i love scrabble and this quilt is just perfect. great job - and holy cow it's gigantic! =)

martilindsey said...

Love~love~love it! Such a creative "guy" quilt!
Cheers~
Marti

Emma said...

What a fabulous idea for a quilt. Your brother is one lucky guy.

Nicole said...

Wow! What a great idea!

tusen said...

Yay, such a fun idea! And I admire your patience with the little triangles.

thea said...

What a fun quilt!! Very nice.

Laura said...

Cool quilt! My words with friends playing family would all love this one.

grapes and hearts said...

You do have one lucky brother! Love your scrabblelegance :o) Favorite Bed Quilt :o)

Jennie said...

Fantastic - I love the idea for scrabble tiles next!

Anonymous said...

This is great! I can't believe you did this! And as a hand quilter myself, I appreciate all you did!
Great job!

Anonymous said...

Been thinking about doing one for my son and his wife. He purposed using a scrabble board.