WHOLE CLOTH QUILT : NYC SUBWAY MAP
I am falling more and more in love with any type of hand work and needle work. It’s so relaxing to be able to sit on the couch or in bed with a hand work project. The first session of our Whole Cloth Quilt class was in November and with the holiday rush, I didn’t completely finish my quilt until just the other day. I only had ten more stitches to do.
Whole Cloth Quilts are traditionally done as wedding quilts. There is no patchwork, like a traditional quilt, rather the design is created though elaborate hand quilting designs. In the class, Carolanne teaches a variety of ways to approach this concept to make something quite traditional or more modern. Each student gets to design their project entirely, so the possibiltiies are quite endless!
For my quilt, I wanted to use a map for my design. After searching around on the internet, I found an awesome vintage New York City subway map. To keep the project manageable, I decided to make this quilt a wall hanging and I’m going to hang it up on a 12″ quilting hoop on the wall. I used my Valdani variegated thread in four colours to represent the outline of the island and boroughs of New York and then the three distinct colours used for the subway lines. I’m so happy with how this turned out. I am already in love with hand quilting, but creating a project that completely features it was super fun. I think I might try doing a whole series of whole cloth quilt maps.
The rest of the class chose to do a variety of projects from baby quilt, lap-sized quilt, pillows, tote bag and table runner. Their work was all so different and amazing. What I especially love about our hand work classes is that they have a great social, ‘quilting bee’ feel, since we are all sitting together for the entire class, chit chatting and drinking tea. It’s so relaxing! Our next session is starting up next week, so I’m excited to see what new whole cloth quilts are going to emerge.
29 comments
karyn, you always are adding new ideas to my project list. which is awesome, but it’s getting pretty long! I would adore coming to a class like this.
I love the idea of taking the traditional whole quilt and making it modern! Such a great idea. I love your map and the threads you used. I will have to check the thread out sometime soon.
really beautiful! love the colors you’re using! between you and amanda i am falling hard for hand quilting! 🙂
This is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen!!!! I’m so jealous of you right now!
this is totally awesome!!!!!
This is amazing, what a unique idea! I’m so very inspired by this
that is AWESOME!! i’ve been reading your blog for a while but am kind of shy to comment. i must say though i’m totally inspired by your projects & the fact that you own a sewing space. it’s my own dream someday (with a coffee shop included since i’ve been working in coffee the last 8 years) and i really enjoy hearing about the classes and things you offer. hopefully someday i will make it to canada to visit your shop in person!
xo
danielle
Really, really fabulous! What a fantastic idea and your execution is going swimmingly. Love it!!!
you know you’re awesome, right?! i love it to come here and see what you’ve done 🙂
wow, very cool. great design idea and tidy stitches! I’ve never quilted–but want to start very soon–and I find myself drawn to hand-quilting first. There’s something more appealing about it to me, perhaps the tradition of it. Do you think it’s a reasonable place to begin or would you recommend machine quilting first (for any reason)?
very, very cool!
This is super amazing Karyn! I love the colour combination.
This is beautiful!
whaaaat! it looks wonderful karyn!
Ohhh Karyn!!!! Your stitches are SO tiny & absolutely PERFECT! knowing your love of NYC makes this SO special. Have you decided where to hang it?!
wow, that is incredible! I would also say inspiring– but really, the design and technique are both so special I know it is totally beyond me… eye candy!
I love this!
I just stumbled upon your blog through another one I read. Your embroidery is AMAZING! I’m so impressed.
What an awesome idea. So simple, clean, and modern.
How did you transfer the design to your fabric? I suppose for a bed-sized quilt I would have to use a projector and hang the fabric on the wall, but I’m interested in techniques for small projects.
beautiful quilt! it reminds me of Haptic Lab:
http://hapticlab.com/
Amazing work! You’ve inspired me to try to make a quilt of transit maps!
How did you do the transfer of the design to the fabric?
I would love to buy this! If you have any interest in making another please let me know: megan@cayten.com