Friday, January 11, 2013

Project --- ???

I have wanted to show you this for a couple of weeks now. I have a local quilt group (QBX) that meets once a month and I wanted to show it there first. We met Weds. night so now I can show you!


Each month we rotate who's blocks we do. Rachel had November (we didn't meet in Dec.) She had traced around each state on a map and had us choose different states to make the fusible pieces. I immediately imagined making this rainbow quilt.



I borrowed her map and started tracing the next day. All of the fabrics came from my stash. I'm on a total rainbow kick lately. Throwback to my '80s childhood.  :o)

Cutting the smaller stated was tricky. You need to have VERY sharp scissors.



You might be wondering why I left out Utah. This was a happy accident. I had cut out all of my states and had them all laid out. I was pressing them briefly to set them in place. I pressed with an up and down motion of my iron moving from California westward. I passed over Utah and realized it wasn't there? "What happened to Utah!?"



It had somehow managed to flip over and get stuck to the bottom of my iron. Yuck! Well I managed to clean it off and luckily no yucky burned fusible goop got on the quilt. I debated on whether or not to cut out another Utah. In the end I decided to leave it off. It adds a cool look, it's where I live, and there was lots of reds and oranges in the quilt. This balances out the colors with the smaller eastern seaboard of blues and purples.


Its difficult to get the stated to line up perfectly. I chose to quilt a straight stitch around each state a few times allowing for an organic feel. This also helped to cover and gaps between fabrics. I used a different color thread for each state. Ok, there were a couple colors I used more than once. But I'm pretty sure I used close to 45 different colors!


The background quilting was done to mimic the lines of latitude. I originally planned on adding longitude lines too but decided they might be too much. Who knows, I still might add them. 



All I have left to do it bind it!

I haven't been able to think of a good name for this quilt. Do you have any ideas? I'd like to open it up for suggestions. If I choose your name I'll send you a Crazy Old Ladies pattern or your choice!

62 comments:

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Quilting Across America!

Jennie said...

America The Beautiful!

Staci said...

This is absolutely fabulous! I totally love it!
How about "Quilting Coast to Coast?

Jen said...

This is awesome! What about, "From Sea to Shining Sea" or " Rainbow Roadtrip"

Natalia from Piece N Quilt said...

I love it! It's awesome, and I think it's cool that Utah is missing! :)

Laurel said...

Wow. Love it. A Rainbow State of Mind.

Tiffany said...

I love how Utah stands out! I think it's perfect that way. I'd probably call it "Home Sweet Home" or something. Although I'm kind of jealous of Laurel for coming up with "A Rainbow State of Mind."

Gill said...

Fabulous! I'm in England so it would be fun to do one of the UK!
How about'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' (is Utah!)

Maria said...

How about "Nifty Fifty"?

Lynette said...

Wow!!! That is so cool :D Best rainbow quilt award!

Yvonne said...

I love your quilt! Quilted America.

FlourishingPalms said...

This is such a clever and fun design. What a great way to teach kids about the states, or even as a quick reference for adults! I love this, and wish I'd thought to do it myself. I'd call it "USAblaze."

A.J. Dub. (Amy) said...

SOOO Cool! I have wanted to do something similar with fat quarters I collect when on vacation. Now I have some inspiration! And LOVE the Utah "mistake". A happy accident if there ever was one :)

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

What a wonderful fun quilt!

jlk said...

I love this. Love. I am stealing this idea. And, if I ever see this IRL, I am stealing this quilt. Just so you know.

You could call it "Bicoastal."

What map did you use? I seriously am in love and need to make one NOW.

doodlebugmom said...

Awesome America! I love it, I am now inspired. But will have to do my home state, Wisconsin, in a cow print.

B Greene said...

Love this project!!!!

I would go with ROYGBIV USA.

Melissa Corry said...

This is such a fun quilt!! I think it was fate to leave out Utah, it really makes it personal! I would call it Fifty Nifty, just because it reminds me of the song I learned in grade school to memorize all of the states :)

Johanna said...

Love the Utah story! What are the chances? I'd call it the Scrappy States of America! Hope nobody already said that!

Bev said...

I love it! I would call it "Quilting the USA".

Cheery wave!
Bev

Cheryl said...

Scraps Across The Nation...wow I love this idea. Would be so fun to make for my grandsons with pieces for them to match on the sewn down piece. Great job!!!

Texas JennyWren said...

from sea to shining sea....

Great job. I LOVE the circle fabric you used for TEXAS, my great state!! grin.

beautiful quilt

giddy99 said...

The United States of Color!

Candice said...

Land of the Free, Home of the Rainbow :)

Shannon said...

What a great idea Rachel had. I would like to see hers too. Utah looks like it's covered in snow, which by the way is what's happening right now, huh?

CJ said...

I LOVE THIS!! Sell the 'pattern' of states!!!! Sizes and such. So how big IS this quilt?

My name - The State of Quilting

Maureen said...

I would call it "My Country, tis of Thee".
Great quilt, I love it!
mgw070 at shaw dot ca

Mark said...

Very cool quilt, Emily! I really enjoy reading your blog. You're creativity is outstanding.

Margaret said...

This is amazing. Since you left a hole where Uyah should be, how about Home is Where the Hole is. I have got to try this. It would look so cool in my den. I could find the pins I have collected from states that we have visited and pin them on my map. Wow, I just really love this.

Sherryl said...

American Patchwork!

Wow. Can I just say wow? Wow!

- sunshdws at yahoo dot com

Jayme said...

Okay I think Laurel hit it on the nose with "A Rainbow State of Mind"!!!! Way to go Laurel...I hope you win! I LOVE the quilt, and I've been seeing them pop up in blog land over the past year...I want to make one so bad!! I guess I better go get a map...

MaterialGirlQuilts said...

This is so awesome! I love it that your home state stands out by "happy accident" :-)
Amanda

Unknown said...

How about: Quilting Around the USA

It's a beautiful quilt. I'd like to research & make one for our home here in Mexico.

thelady(at)hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

Love it! How about America is the Rainbow.

Ida said...

I like the "Scrappy States of America" but as I didn't think of that, I just like it, how about "Color me American"?

Whatever you call it, its amazing!!

Kathy@KayakQuilting said...

Wow, you ARE crazy!!! But I love it!!

Lisa in Port Hope said...

How about "Melted Crayon Union"

Sarah said...

I love this quilt! I love how you've used rainbow colours and they also match regions of the US, eg the south is blue the northeast purple etc. I'm not so good on names, but maybe The Scraps of the Union.

The Peacock family said...

Em this is adorable :) you have such talent girl. I wish I lived closer to you so it could rub off on me.

LindseyAnne said...

Has anyone suggested Home State of Mind? You always leave your home state 'blank' as in Utah for you.

KathyWalt J said...

Homeland Hues

Julie H said...

From sea to shining sea. Gorgeous!

Lisa R. said...

Smart choice not to replace Utah and leave it out. And it makes for. Great story!

Martha said...

Love this. What size is it? It would be so fun in a childs room to help them learn the states. How about "Colors of my country"?

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

I agree with Quilts Across America, this is beautiful!

Jan said...

You've got some great suggestions for a title. I like Colorful United States.

Kristy fordhook1 said...

Love this quilt! Spectrum of Americana.

Dana said...

I love this quilt! Very clever!
I'm a bit obsessed with map quilts, and have finished one and two more in progress. So many cool maps....

Katie B said...

I don't have any clever name ideas, but I have to tell you how stunning this is!

susan said...

fantastic. and how serendipitous that your state was the one left off!@ i have been wanting to do a united states map quilt since i saw one in a mag. can i ask what the name of the map/maker is?

KatieQ said...

I love your quilt. The only thing missing is a little heart in Utah. Then it could be called, "Home is Where the Heart Is."

heidiabc said...

I love, love, love this! You are awesome!

Shari Dancer-Thomas said...

This is beautiful!

GmaGrogan said...

i LIKE THE nAME - AMERICA U SHOULD SEE IT IN COLOR! Sometimes I think people get way too busy and forget to look around and enjoy the colors of America! We have such a Variety of color in everything we have here. Take time to enjoy the colors.

Holly said...

I love this Emily! It's now on my to-do list!

BTW, we met back in Nov of 2011 at Pamela's quilt retreat. I was the one with all the different projects! :)

Holly said...

AND, I should add that Amy Smart invited me to come along to your quilt retreat next month, but I can't make it. :( I hope you'll do another, because I'd love to attend! :)

Polly @ Pieces by Polly said...

Love this!

Richard Healey said...

I love this quilt and had to show it off to my wife and kids today at HMQS

Unknown said...

I can envision this as a major part of a Quilt of Valor. Perhaps with "United We Stand" or America the Beautiful, or simply "United States of America" Also added around the map. Beautiful work.

Wild Kat said...

As soon as I saw this I knew this will be my next quilt! I am thinking of doing it in red white and blue although I love the rainbow! I love your state missing. I think I would just add a tiny heart on the city in the state that I am living in! Thank you for the beautiful inspiration!

SuperMomNoCape said...

I know this is an old post but I just came across it and I wanted to say how much I love your US map quilt!! I'm definitely going to be making one of these.

Unknown said...

I think you should name your quilt "What happened to Utah!?"