Detail Pictures of the Whitehall Public Library Quilt

The Making of the Whitehall Public Library Quilt-Part 1

The first step in making this quilt was measuring the space that was available to me for display when the quilt was finished. We had a large wall that is visible from the door as you walk into the library. It is an interior wall away from the windows and direct sunlight. The quilt measures approximately 98" wide by 67" high.

Once I knew how much room I had I began designing the quilt. After looking at other bookshelf quilts on the internet and discussing the options with Alfie Chico, whose idea it was to make the quilt, and Debby Recker, we decided we wanted a window or fireplace in the center of the quilt.

I use a computer program called QuiltPro when designing my quilts but could also have drawn the design on graph paper instead. The program made it much faster to make changes and check sizes.

I have always enjoyed making things look 3D or as realistic as possible so making the window was probably my favorite part of constructing the quilt. Once I knew how big I wanted the window to be I added the detail of the beveled window frames in my design program. To make the beveled pieces I sewed together 1 strip each of white and gray fabric. My strips measured 1" wide by the width of my fabric so they would finish as 1/2". I set these aside until I had my window background ready. I paper pieced the intersections of the window frames so I could be very accurate. This is what the intersections look like in my design:

To make the background I took a piece of green fabric and placed it wrong side up on a piece of the sky fabric. I cut a gentle curve through both pieces of fabric. The reason I placed the green fabric wrong side up is because I wanted the far hill to look "grayed" out and farther away than the closer hill. Both hills are made from the same fabric. After cutting the curve, I removed the extra sky fabric and the extra grass fabric and sewed the two remaining pieces together along the curve. If you've never done curved piecing make sure you practice on scrap fabric first. After sewing the first curve, I layered this piece of fabric with more of the grass fabric, right side up this time, and cut another gentle curve. If you're afraid of curved piecing this could also have been appliqued.

Once I had the 2 hills sewn, I cut this piece of fabric apart to fit in the window panes. Next, I cut my white/gray strips into segments to fit in between the windows and sewed them together in rows. I made 3 rows. After I paper pieced 4 window intersections, I sewed them together with the white/gray strips to make the horizontal parts of the window panes paying close attention to the positioning of the strips to create a shadow on the underside of the mullions. I sewed these strips in between the window rows, added the outside pieces of my window frame and my window was complete. I'm not giving measurements here because my measurements are unique to this quilt and may not work for another quilt.


It may be easier to see how the window was constructed in my computer drawing shown below:

Well, that's all for today! I have other things I need to do but if you want to make a quilt like mine this should help you get started.

Good luck!

Ahhhhhhhhhh....

This is a picture of the project I have been working on for the last year and its nearly finished! This quilt was the brainchild of Alfie Chico, who is now my friend, but when she called me out of the blue to ask me to help with this project, I was totally caught off-guard. Alfie had been looking for a way to raise funds for our local library and originally wanted to raffle off a quilt. She was inspired by a children's book, similar to a coloring book, but with pictures you could customize to your own interests. One of the pages had a bookshelf with books on which you could write you own titles.

After some thought, Alfie, Debby Recker and Paula Kelly, the head librarian at the Whitehall Public Library, realized the quilt would probably bring in more money if the project was approached from another direction. Rather than selling tickets for a chance to win the quilt, they decided for a $100 donation to the library, the donor could choose a title for one of the books on the quilt. The quilt will hang in the Whitehall Library next to a companion book in which each of the donors got a page to say why they chose their book and what it means to them. This made it possible for more than one person to choose each book.

I was the last one brought into the project, but since I have more experience with quilting and machine embroidery, they allowed me to take the helm. After I designed the quilt, Alfie, Debby and I got together quite a few times to embroider the titles. Once the book titles were finished, it took me about a week to put the quilt top together. Then I was able to give the quilt top to my friend, Cathy Werner, of Your Fairy Quiltmother, who did the actual quilting. She did a dense allover design that should hold up well over time.

The quilt was unveiled at the Whitehall Public Library's 50th Anniversary Celebration held at The South Hills Country Club on Sunday, May 5th, 2013. It was well received and after a few finishing touches, it will be ready to hang in the library for the next 50 years and, with luck, many more!

I can't wait to visit it!

Made with love

This is a picture of a quilt I have been helping my friend make. It was a birthday gift for her mom that she presented at a surprise party this past weekend. There are a lot of special details in this quilt like the christening gown that was worn by all of the children and all of the grandchildren in the family--23 people in total. My friend thought it was time to "retire" the gown before it was damaged or lost so we designed the quilt with a special place for it to be featured. Under the hem of the dress, there is a fabric book with the names of all of the people who wore the gown as well as a family picture. Lots of family photos were included on the shelves and the books were embroidered with the names of the streets that the quilt recipient lived on. Buttons will be added on the "drawers" at the bottom of the quilt as drawer pulls. This quilt was a lot of fun to work on and has inspired me to make one of my own...eventually!