if you WANT to or some other fussy-cut novelty piece. We all have favorites.
I just completed a special order for an Elvis quilt because I just happened to have some vintage fabric with images of Elvis. Doesn’t everyone? Perhaps not, but I lived in Memphis for about 9 years, so I had a special “in.”
However, there are 1000s of novelty prints out there that we can’t resist. How can we use them in quilts, especially when we don’t have a lot to work with? One obvious way is to just use some of them as regular pieces. In the traditional apple-core quilt below, I simply fussy-cut the Elvis portrait to fit inside the apple core.
Note–if you make a template with a transparent or translucent plastic, you can see to line it up!
Of course, it doesn’t have to be a screen idol. You may just want to showcase a cow or heart or kid, whatever your heart desires. (Do you REALLY desire a cow? OK, not judging! HAHA!)
Speaking of kids, could you add one–maybe your own child or grandchild? Sure, but that means buying special image transfer paper or fabric. Both are available, but read the directions carefully. For glue-base type, you have to reverse the photo. For direct transfer by computer, you can just print on the fabric, but the ink runs if gets wet unless you follow some specific directions–I haven’t been successful. Alas 🙁
Here’s the whole quilt. I call it Color Splash Charm because every fabric is different, hence, a “charm” quilt. I’ve put the free pattern up on the side bar of my landing page. ( I don’t sell it because it’s a traditional pattern, but I did draw up a template and figure the number of pieces for different sizes of quilts for you.)
If you have a block-style quilt, just use the special fabric in one or more of the pieces. For instance, it could be the center of a 9-piece block, or the 4 corners, or even both.
More complex blocks might take a little more figuring. For instance, here’s the heart block I designed for “Hearts for the Sweet” pattern.
Below is “Hearts for the Sweet” in pink. https://sewgocreate.com/product/hearts-for-the-sweet-baby-or-lap-quilt/
For the “With Love and Roses from Elvis” below, I changed the dimensions of the heart a little and inserted Elvis into the rectangular center piece .
It’s not as hard as it may look–No major measuring! I just cut a square out containing Elvis. I cut the center rectangular piece AND FOLDED IT, THEN CUT IT IN HALF DOWN THE MIDDLE FOLD. I sewed one half to each side of the Elvis square in order to insert Elvis and simply trimmed off the excess fabric on each side to bring it back to the correct width. Hello, easy-peasy!! I also trimmed any excess of the Elvis square left on the top and bottom. He slipped right in, a different image in each heart. How’s that for a “Heartthrob”?
Choose your OWN image–little or big–and just insert it! Fun and easy!
Always having fun with fabric, Libby
