CHANGE THE SIZE OF YOUR QUILT

 I am often asked for help by a quilter wanting to change the size of a quilt pattern. Perhaps it's too big. Perhaps it's too small. How do you increase or decrease a quilt to be size you want?

Let's look at Laurel Ridge, the 2025 Block of the Month quilt designed by Lynn Wilder exclusively for THE QUILT SHOW. As designed the quilt is 90" square:

For some people, this is too large and they want to make it smaller. How do you convert a pattern from LARGE to SMALL?

1. Make the blocks smaller: this works with larger blocks, say 10" or larger, but these blocks are only 5". Making them 2.5" finished would be quite a challenge. 

2. Make fewer blocks. Because this quilt is a Medallion-style, it makes sense to keep the middle the same and work out until the quilt is the size you want. 

I played around with EQ8 for some possibilities. The middle would remain the same as the original pattern. I didn't draw it, you can imagine it there. This quilt is 52" square with a 1" border on the outside. It can easily be enlarged with more or wider borders:

More borders, now it's 62" square:

Let's add another row of blocks. The blank spaces are for the applique yet to come. I am replacing those blocks with pieced blocks so will save that REVEAL for a few more weeks. It is 62" square now, an outer border would easily enlarge it:

What if you don't want a square quilt? Add additional borders on the top and bottom to lengthen it. Now it's 74" x 80":

Your first decision should be the finished size of the quilt. Once that is set, more or less, play with a variety of options until you say "Aha! That's just what I want"!

Here is one more example. For many years I planned to make this quilt, designed and made by Catherine Butterworth, who lives in Australia:

I called it "Diamond Jubilee" and expected to have it done by MY Diamond Jubilee--my 60th birthday. That was more than 10 years ago and here is what I have today:

It may get a little bigger, and a pieced border is definitely in the plan:

None of this is set in stone just yet. Why did it get smaller? I no longer need another King or Queen size quilt. This has been incubating for so MANY years it is just time to get it done. While I still love Catherine's original, my blocks just aren't speaking to me any more. So my current plan is to have three more Feathered Star blocks, then decide on block placement, sashing color, pieced borders--style and colors--and then get this one DONE in 2025. Finished is better than perfect.

If you have a pattern you like, don't be afraid to "tweak" it a bit to make it your own. Always be sure to credit the original designer on the label--you DO PUT A LABEL on ALL YOUR QUILTS, RIGHT??!!

I am a stickler for LABELS:  here is my TUTORIAL: QUILT LABELS--DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THEM  

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Label Your Quilts--the Future Will Thank You

Putting a label on our quilts is something most of us know we "should" do but a lot of us don't take time to do it. Recently, the topic of labels has come up in classes and on Facebook groups so we should discuss it.

Last Fall I was interviewed by the Quilt Alliance as part of their "Go Tell It At The Quilt Show" project. Amy Milne, the speaker at the guild meeting, stressed several times the need to label and document our work. They have several projects to document and protect quilters' stories for the future:

Quilt Alliance

About a year and a half ago I wrote a detailed blog on how I make permanent labels of all the quilts I make. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I send you there so you can see the steps I take:

Quilt Labels--Don't Leave Home Without Them

Here is a blog TIP: I found this post very easily--in the upper left of the blog is a small box with the orange B blogger symbol to the left and the magnifying glass that means "Search" to the right. I typed in Labels and every post I've written and tagged "labels" comes up. This is the first one that appeared.

Another TIP: there is a Tutorials page with a direct link--the button is on the bar with various pages, like my teaching calendar out of town. The Labels blog is one I show as a Tutorial. Most of my step-by-step posts get added as a Tutorial.

So, if  you are looking for things  on my blog you have seen before or you think I may have written about the subject, use the Search box or the Tutorial button--you may just find what you are looking for. You can always Google the topic, I show up there too but this is much more direct.

Here are a few more label photos:

The fanciest label I ever made. When the quilt has a WOOL batt I make certain that care instructions are clearly marked on the label. My husband thought I was giving this quilt away when he saw the label--"No, but I'm not going to live forever" was my response:

This quilt is hanging on the living room wall so the photo is not so hot. If there were more room on the label I would add that it was Best of Show 2011 Fanfare HQH show, juried in to Paducah 2012, featured in the book 500 Traditional Quilts and included in the 2014 Special Exhibit of 500 Traditional Quilts at International Quilt Festival Houston. Maybe it just  needs a second label:

Give credit to the designer if the work is not original:

Give credit to the quilter if you did not quilt it:

Labels ready and waiting. Two are for quilts I plan to finish this year--hope I don't have to change the date. Three are for quilts made in the past that did not have labels--I discovered that omission when I was doing my "The Journey" series of blogs last year. It's time to get them sewn on those quilts:

And, my all-time favorite label. The photo won't hold up to years of washing, colored inks won't last, but the black ink printing should be fine for years to come:

Please label your quilts!

Let's quilt,

Barbara

Lessons to Learn from an Old Quilt

I planned to show this in December but just got these photos taken the other day.  My son, Joshua Black Wilkins, is a professional photographer.  He found a few hours to shoot a lot of my quilts and this antique.

I found this at a trade day, sort of like a flea market, September 2009 in Scottsboro, AL.  Unfortunately, the seller had no information on this quilt:  who, what, where, or when.  It is in excellent condition, very bright colors, no holes or tears, and nicely quilted.  I've had it appraised and think the date on this is most likely 1875-1900.  I hope I look this good at that age!

The lessons I think today's quilters can learn from this quilt:

1.  Create a LABEL--by hand or computer, please sign your work.  Someone in the future WILL want to know who made your quilt, when it was made, where you lived, and why you made it. 

2.  Don't be so hard on yourself it things are not perfect--notice the four corners on the four sawtooth borders--each is different.  That is part of charm of this quilt for me.  The quilting motifs change direction--three rows point in one direction, two rows in the other--probably so it would look "right" on the bed.

3.  Take care of your quilts--don't store them folded up for years.  Don't store in plastic bags or against wood in a chest or drawer.  Watch the amount of direct or indirect light your best quilts are exposed to.  This one is in such excellent shape it must have been stored out of light and I don't think it had been washed.  I'm currently storing it rolled up, around several other quilts, inside in, out of direct light.

4.  Put a "secret" hint into your quilts.  There are two interesting motifs quilted into this--a dragonfly and an initial--it might be a "W" or an "M".  Since my husband's last name is Wilkins, it's now a "W".  I am a huge fan of dragonflies, often wearing one of the many dragonfly pins I've collected, and so you can imagine my surprise and delight when I got this home and discovered those two motifs!  Here are shots from the back so you can see them--they are almost invisible from the front.

5.   Make a record of your work, with photos, and notes.  Make a journal, a photo album, some kind of record to tell the stories of your quilts.  As I often say, when non-quilters see the labels I put on my quilts and wonder why I did that:  "I'm not going to live forever" and I want generations yet unborn to know a little about who I was, what I created with my hands, and why I made the quilts I did.  With today's technology, it's easier than ever to have such a record.

6.  Finally, keep your eyes open at flea markets--you never know what kind of treasure you'll find right around the corner!

Let's quilt!

Barbara