I'm at H+H this week in Chicago, and I have a fun thing to share! (H+H is the new Quilt Market. It's a business trade show for fabric companies, designers, and others in the quilting industry to show off all their new things.) I am an exhibitor at the show (I have a booth showing off my new things), and several months ago I was invited to be a part of a group project.
Each participant was tasked with making a specific portion of the "h+h" logo in a very specific size to create an art installation at the entry doors of the show.
There were no color requirements, but the theme was "Grow with creativity." I knew my Exploding Heart quilt would fit the theme and also be identifiable as mine. So I chose one of my stickers from my shop and pulled fabrics to match.
Of course I used my AccuQuilt to cut all the pieces!
The fabrics are all Painter's Palette solids by Paintbrush Studios (that I carry in my shop!).
However, it wasn't as straight forward as usual. The quilt had to be a *very* specific size to fit into the space and be connected to other quilts. In order to make it work, I used the MINI Exploding Heart pattern (which usually makes a 36" x 36" quilt), but sewed with larger seams. I also left off columns so I could hit the size requirement (24" wide exactly). All the piecing was with Aurifil 50wt thread of course!
I knew mine was going to be at the top of the "h", which meant it would be supporting the weight of all the quilts below it. I decided to use Bosal In-R-Form foam instead of batting. This is typically used in quilted bags so they can keep their shape better than batting.
I've actually never quilted with it before on my longarm, which made me nervous! It's about 1/4" thick.
But it quilted up beautifully! My longarm had no issues whatsoever.
And check out how perfect the quilt measurement was at this stage! EXACTLY 24" like my requirement!
In addition to the size requirement, you also had to use a very specific Riley Blake solid black fabric for binding. I machine sewed that on, and my regular Juki machine didn't balk at the thickness here either.
Definitely an odd-sized quilt, but it turned out well!
It looks really close to the original sticker!
I used hot pink thread for the quilting, which is visible close up, but not from far away.
See what I mean about an odd size? It's 24" wide and 54" tall. Because of that long height, I added some more triangles above and below the typical quilt pattern design. (Tell the designer that I changed her design! Gasp! 😉)
I always put my little label into the binding when sewing the victory lap. So after this photo shot in the backyard, I sent the quilt off to Chicago.
Earlier this week, some amazing people which included Swan Sheridan from Swan Amity Studios installed grommets on all the quilts and hung them in the entry of the trade show.
Can you spot mine??
Yes, my quilt is 4 1/2 feet tall, so this is actually 12 feet high!! You can walk under the "h" without even ducking!
I had to zoom in to see mine way up there!
And there's a label on the back. You'd have to zoom in and take a picture to read it, but it's there!
When making the quilt, I thought it was going to hang in a display case. I had no idea it was being hung out in the open for people to take pictures with and walk through! So cool!!
The show is huge and well attended. I've been going to Quilt Market for years, and based on the energy and positivity of this show, it seems like everyone knows this is the new place to be!
Now it's your turn! What have you finished lately? Link up a blog post, Facebook post or Instagram post to the TGIFF linky party so we can celebrate with you! (And please consider signing up to host TGIFF on your blog! We'd love to send some new friends to your blog!)
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