Tag: Cherrywood Challenge

Starting the Challenge

I posted on Thursday about my idea of using the Cherrywood challenge as a memorial honoring my Dad.

To start with, I needed replicas of his ribbons and awards. I did some searching and found a great store called the “Armed Forces Super Store”. There I was able to find ALL of his ribbons, awards and insignia……

….along with buttons that would fit the time period.

Next I needed to find a “pattern” to use to create the jacket. So, I started scouring photos of WWII army uniforms and finally found one that I thought would work…..

I then pulled this photo into “Canva” and started adding parts of other photos, ending up with this idea……

I made a line drawing of this photo and enlarged it to the size that I wanted (or so I thought)….

But when I laid the ribbons and buttons on top of this pattern, I realized that the scale was off and the uniform needed to be smaller.

I finally realized the the problem was because I had “zoomed in” too much on the uniform and that I needed to back away and use more of the uniform to fill in the space. More along these lines….

This is what I took to the retreat to work on!!

Now there were two problems….

Firstly, Dad’s uniform would have been a browny/olive green color and that particular colors was not in the fabrics that I could use. After a lot of thought, I decided to use the dark grey (almost black) fabric instead……

The second problem….. I only had a Fat Quarter to work with!!

My plan was to make the uniform 3-D, with the lapels, pockets and epaulets being loose on the top. BUT, that was going to take a lot of fabric!!

So, before I started cutting fabric, I decided to test my pattern on muslin, and IT WORKED…..

The next morning I decided to throw caution to the wind and start using the challenge fabrics, starting with the first lapel…..

It worked well, although, in an effort to save fabric, I I did use the light grey on the back of the lapel!!

I added one pocket and side of the jacket…..

….and then the other lapel and jacket side….

At this point, I realized that I would struggle to have enough fabric, so hopped online and ordered another 1/2-yard of the fabric.

I think that this is a good decision because I really need the jacket sides to be a bit wider and then also need fabric for the sleeves.

The only other thing that I have done to date is make the necktie. It was fun to stuff the “tie” portion with batting to make it 3-D…..

I don’t have a great color to use for the shirt so I am planning to add some color to one of the other pieces of fabric to change the color slightly. Apparently that is allowable in the challenge!!

So now I sit waiting for the fabric to arrive!!

After that, I need to finish the uniform and then decide on the rest of the quilt!!

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Remembering

I have finally started thinking about my Cherrywood Challenge….which is due VERY soon!!

YIKES….

Just to remind you, the challenge is Poppies….and uses these wonderful fabrics…..

When I think of Poppies, I remember the lapel flowers that everyone in any British country wears during November….the month of remembrance…..

I kept trying to come up with another idea but my mind would not leave this one alone!!

Then I started remembering….

Remembering my Dad and his service during World War II…..

Wasn’t he handsome!!

Remembering his Service Record that I found when I cleaned out Mom’s house….

Inside I found his decorations…..

….and his Insignia…

He was a Medic and proudly wore the Caduceus.

I started researching his record and found that he had been awarded…..

  • Asiatic Pacific Campaign Military ribbon with 2 stars
  • World War II Victory Military ribbon
  • American Campaign Military Ribbon
  • Army Good Conduct Military Ribbon
  • Good Conduct Medal

It made me so proud of his service and I started wondering exactly how I could use this challenge to honor him!

I am excited about this idea and especially that I can make a quilt that will have a personal meaning and not just a challenge entry!!

Over the next week, I will keep you updated on the decisions that I make and the progress on the challenge.

Thanks for sticking with me as…..

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Let’s talk Monarch’s!!

So, yesterday, I had the background finished and now it was time to think about the guest of honor….the butterfly!!

I found a great photo online and enlarged it to the size I wanted.

I started out by drawing the outline on a piece of black fabric and then roughly cutting it out.

Next, I added the wing bits…..

As I was trying to figure out how to add all of the small white areas, my friend Linda said “Why don’t you paint them??” At one point I thought I might do some painting on this quilt so I brought my paint supplies with me!!

It didn’t take long to paint the white spots. I decided to add a bit of grey to the edges to give them a bit more depth.

I also added a bit of green paint to the inner sections to give more depth there too.

Since I am NOT a painter, what I did was minimal but I think that it added a lot to the Monarch!!

Now it was time to tackle the Milkweed.

I brought this photo with me…..

….and used it as my guide.

Once again, I am going for depth so started with some paints on white fabric. I got excited doing this step and kept forgetting to take photos, but you can see it pretty well in this photo….

I started out with a sea sponge, then added brush strokes in green and then some brown as well.

Next, I used the photo and cut out lots and lots of flower shapes. The first set was fused onto the background and heavy embroidery threads were added to the centers. I also used a marker to add some more interest.

The next morning, I added a layer of batting to the back and another set of flowers…..this time sewing them on the machine….

I actually like those better than the hand-sewn ones but I think that the diversity will add to the design.

Once I saw that this idea was going to work okay, I cut out a bunch more flower shapes with fusible on the back and then also fused two fabrics together and cut out flowers that will be loose on the top.

Before I left for the retreat, I found a font that I liked and printed out the words. It was easy work to transfer them to the fusible web and cut them out of fabric. They didn’t show up well on the green background so I added a black fabric strip under them.

I will rough-cut the black before I fuse it down.

When I left the retreat, the quilt was at this stage…..

Lot’s more to come…..I just have to find the time to do it!!!


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Challenge piecing….

On Thursday I told you about the start of my “two for the price of one” challenge!!

When I left you, I had cut and pieced the first set of duet strips for the background squares…..

But, I wasn’t happy with them.

I wanted the blocks to have lots of strips in them to add interest….

…and these were simply TOO wide!!

So, I started cutting the strips down and re-sewing them together again.

I knew that this would use even more fabric so at this point…..


Please tell me that you do this too!!

I kept adding strips one at a time…..

….until I had a strip set that was the width that I needed.

Now it was time to cut the squares and this took a bit more planning…..

The unfinished squares need to be 5.5 inches and I am going to piece a curve in the corner. Since I know that I may lose a bit of size with piecing the curve, I wanted the squares to be a bit bigger than needed.

BUT, since I am working with fat-quarters and still want to make the best use of the fabric, I needed to know the maximum number of squares that I could get from my strip set.

That number was 3 squares out of the “almost 18-inch” strip.

Since the strip wasn’t quite 18-inches, I settled on 5-7/8’s inch squares.

Yes, that is getting a bit picky, but the sizes need to be exact to produce the needed 20-inch quilt!!

And it got even crazier after that as I started adding the curves…..

Come back next week for more!!

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I’ve made a start….

Last week, I posted about my idea of turning two challenges into one quilt…

Time’s up…..

…and this week, I have made a start!!

The first thing that I needed to do was make the strip sets for the background blocks…

I only had 3 fat-quarters in the needed greens so I knew that I was going to have to be VERY precise in my cutting and planning!

I trimmed a minimal amount to even up the edges…

….and cut a set of strips out of each fabric. They varied in width from 1-inch to 2-1/2- inches.

I matched the fabrics into duets….

….and sewed them together, being REALLY sure of my 1/4-inch seam allowance…..

I even chose to piece with a Bottom Line thread which is 60 weight thread. I have never used this before but it seems to be working well.

OKAY….the first set of strips are sewn…..

Am I happy with them?

Not so much!!!

Come back on Saturday to see the next moves!

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In this blog, I post stories about creativity, techniques, tools of the trade, and lots more about the wonderful art of quilting. If you are enjoying these posts, please subscribe to be notified of each new blog as it becomes available.