I heard from so many of you, a couple weeks back, about my collage quilt that made a cameo in that weeks blog. Thank you for speaking up! This week, I will attempt to show you exactly how I made that quilt. Some of these photos were taken many years ago, and you can tell cameras have come a long way :) Here goes!
Collage quilts are basically a background piece of fabric with flowers from other fabrics cut out and glued in place then stitched down with quilting. There are of course variations; you can use fusible web and stitch each piece in place before the final quilting.
The first thing you want to do is pick your flower fabrics. I like to use very large scale prints that will make big splashes of color and won’t take an eternity to cut out. Here are several pics of different prints. I left my hand in the photo so you can see the size and scale of them.
I cut out each flower pretty close to the edge but wasn’t fussy about it, and I even used partial flowers, layering them in behind other flowers so it looks like there are layers of blooms.
For my background, I used two different black and white prints; one was floral and one was newsprint. I cut a wonky line between the two and pieced in a black strip to join them. I added several more black strips for “stems”. These were all cut on the bias so I could easily manipulate them into gentle curves.
Now it’s time to play! With a stack of cut flowers and about six glue sticks (literally Elmers glue sticks), I set to work making my garden grow. Some of these photos aren’t the best quality, but you get the idea.
Here are some other close up photos of the second quilt I made with this method, I haven’t quilted this one yet, and I needed to reattach some of the flowers. You don’t have to glue every last inch down, just enough so they don’t move around or flop over while quilting.
This glue applicator would work great for small areas because it has a pointed tip, and you could put just a dot in small places.
Basically the quilting is the magic. You can put as much detail in the quilting to make the flowers pop, and secure the edges. The glue will either wash out or dissipate and soften up over time.
And that’s all there is to it! You’ll have some sticky fingers and a big smile at the end of this process :) I hope you enjoy!
Happy Sunday everyone!
Krista
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Catherine, I have never personally framed a quilt, but I have seen it done! I also like the look of wrapping them around a canvas and stapling them tight to the frame... you wouldn't have to bind it that way :)
Thank you Janice! Yes, I would recommend stitching around each piece if it has just been glued on. If you use fusible, the pieces would probably stay on through a washing or two, but they would eventually start to peel off... it depends on if you plan just hang it on the wall. I'm always bothered by how stiff they get when using fusible, so I glue and then quilt them to death ;)
oh my goodness!! These are gorgeous! I have a friend getting married in a couple of months and while I don't have the time or resources to make a full quilt, this would make a beautiful wall hanging for their new home! Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Hi, Krista. Loved this post. I’m about to start another collage quilt, so this was helpful. I have another question. Have you ever framed quilts - - as you would a print or painting? I’m interested in framing small wall-hanging-sized quilts and would love your guidance. PS - I was up in WA this weekend and visited several quilt stores. It’s SO wonderful to see your patterns and quilts out and about!!!
I love collage quilts and am working on one now. It looks like you stitched around all of the pieces?? I was concerned about just glueing them on because it doesn't seem as secure. So you recommend stitching them on? If I used a fusible product would each piece still need to be stitched on? I can see from yours that I should have used larger printed fabric. I might need to start over. Yours is beautiful!! Thank you for posting this!