After securing copyrights to use the original design as inspiration for this quilt, and after making a pattern and putting it on my Etsy site in January or thereabouts, I'm delighted to report that I've sold 72 patterns. I'm not sure what is normal for something like this, but for me, this is a blessing. Most of them went to the USA, but some to other parts of the world and to Canada of course. The link to my Etsy store is on this page.
The pattern is about 36" wide, but can be enlarged and made in three panels like this photo. This particular version is about 84" wide. The pattern is also available in digital files, which saves on postage but needs to be printed on a wide printer. A nearby Staples store does that for me.
I've asked those who purchased the pattern to send me a photo of their quilt when it is done. So far, nada, but I'm sure these quilters are at work on it. It is not difficult but does take lots of time.
I'm hoping to offer more patterns soon. I've secured a copyright for an amazing design that needs to be altered to make it 'quiltable' and then I need to make a sample with directions. Lots of work, but it is neat to be able to do this.
Life has been too complicated lately. Company, unexpected assignments, everyone knows what that is like. However, in the flurry of it, I kept wandering toward my sewing machine and am finally finished this Christmas quilt. I call it, "And God became a man..."
After making the pattern (see below) I put it together by tracing each piece to what some quilters call "lick and stick" but it is actually Steam A Seam II. Fabric selections were made as I worked (from the top down) using mostly batiks. After they were all in pressed in place, I sandwiched it using fusible batting, then stitched around each piece using invisible thread. That sounds like a chore, but by thinking ahead, I could stitch entire sections without having to break the thread. Who likes trying to thread a needle with that stuff! That secured the pieces (some of them are really small) and quilted it at the same time.
I put facings on the edges yesterday, but still have to hand-stitch them in place. The label and sleeve are done also. I am happy with it!
This one I made for me, but it was a trial run. Our little quilting group at church was asked to make a 7-foot wide quilt to hang in the church foyer. We found an old Christmas card, tried to track the designer (impossible), and decided this was not for profit anyway. It was my job to create the pattern.
I scanned it to my computer and used CorelDraw to outline each piece. I had to make changes in the design. For one thing, the architecture was wrong for the date of Christ's birth. Also, we decided to make it in three panels, so I had to do that to it too. The pieces were scaled to life size and printed in sections, as many together as would fit on a sheet of paper. We purchased fabrics and donated some of our own for the big one, plus I found our "lick and stick" on sale at Joanne's during a recent trip to Idaho. We are nearly finished the middle panel.
I've never seen a quilt constructed like this... but we are having fun!
