Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Kids Art Quilt: Bess Beetle

There are few things I am more passionate about than turning clothes into quilts - but making quilts from kids art work is probably up there too. This was a quilt that I took some 8 days to longarm - that is about 64 hours of non stop quilting - which for a good sized twin sized quilt is a pretty decent amount. This quilt has some fun surprises in it too. The original drawing of Bess Beetle can be seen here. 

To begin with I began Googling 'beetles' to get some ideas. Beetle tracks popped up - and I liked that idea. So there are beetle tracks all over the quilt. I made my beetle tracks with a round foam brush and black fabric paint. Once the paint was dry & heat set with a hot iron it was time to load the quilt onto Freddie and begin quilting around those beetle tracks.










Have you spotted the quilting design yet? It is a mix and match leaf pattern. All the leaves are the same shape.


I made my own template out of a cereal packet to quickly mark the outlines & then each leaf line is heavily quilted - more than a micro stipple - and each leaf has its own design.




Bess herself was made from a panel I created and ordered through Spoonflower.  (Spoonflower Tip: To create an image the same size as the width of the fabric your picture needs to measure 6300 pixels x 5400 pixels.) Here is Bess ....




Here is what the whole quilt looks like.


 And of course you need to see the back. 




 And that isn't it.

What is this? A little bag? What could be in it?


Well when Bess was with us she had some babies. (Again with the help of Spoonflower.) Fifteen babies to be exact.


And on the back of each baby is a piece of Velcro. 


And each baby attaches to various places on the quilt. (The black beetle tracks hide the Velcro spots perfectly.) I wonder if S will be able to find where they live!




I used a wool batting AND a cotton batting for this quilt so the texture is divine. 





And here is the quilt - all folded up and concealed in its matching Bess Beetle pillowcase.  Did I forget to mention I made a matching pillowcase too? I used a very old pillowcase tutorial of mine - and I was pleased that it all still made sense!


I really hope that Asia & S love their beetle quilt as much as I loved making it.

11 comments:

Chris Dodsley @made by ChrissieD said...

Mouth wide open awe - Chris :D

Asia Citro said...

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT! S is going to die of joy! The stinkers at USPS said they were delivering it yesterday and we paced the door ALL DAY and of course they were a no-show. I did not think it would be possible to be more excited, but OMG I AM! I promise not to show S the photos to keep the secret. IT IS BEYOND PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

some dude said...

Let me echo Asia's feelings -- OMG OMG OMG OMG. I think this is pretty much going to be the only thing S talks about for the next few months. ;)

Thimbleanna said...

Hahaha -- I'd say Asia love it LOL!!! WOW! You are just toooo darn creative. What a FUN quilt!!!

Unknown said...

WOW!! S is going to LOVE this! I know she'll be spending hours playing with her new beetle babies,Bess beetle and their beautiful leaf home. S has such a creative imagination and this gorgeous quilt will truly inspire her!
Thanks from S's GraGra.

Unknown said...

Thank you Citro Family - your making me blush. x

Ellen said...

Wow, what an amazing quilt. Your quilting is stunning! S is one lucky person to have Bess and her babies!

I have to admit that when I read beetle tracks, I immediately went to a Beatle song! Ohhhh, you mean those kind of tracks!

Lovely!

Amber said...

I love this! The quilting is amazing!

Sharon said...

Wow! This is an absolutely amazingly cool quilt! I love it!!!

nellie said...

Mind blown. This is amazing and a great way to incorporate children's art!

MariaG said...

Fantastic. Incredibly creative, you have the perfect mix of pure simplicity and fabulous skills. You keep getting better, Rachael. Out of this world goodness!