The End Game ... and The End of Genius Hour

If you have been following along with my visual record as I create my own archive through quilting, you know that I have been hard at work learning a new life skill! 

Through the creation of this personal archive through quilting, I have used some of the techniques that I have learned through online quilting tutorials, how-to quilt books, and by looking at how some of the details in my own quilts were done.  I am a ‘watch and do’ learner, so I dove into the process, and have learned from my mistakes as I went along!  

My Quilt!  My Quilt!  My Quilt!

As I have been learning about quilts by looking at their details and pattern, I will outline the details of my own quilt archive:

Pattern:  

I saw the ‘End Game’ quilt pattern (below) on a deep dive into quilts on Pinterest.  The pattern was designed in 2019 by Jemima Flendt.  I love that this pattern is based off a simple triangular quilt block, and that the fabric selection and layout defines the final aesthetic - in this case a more modern assemblage of triangles and diamonds.  I think this type of pattern will lend itself well to being a 'beginner' level quilt, as it is not as labour intensive as many traditional quilt blocks that are composed of several different shapes and and pieces. 

 

End Game Quilt Pattern, Tied with a Ribbon                                      My Quilt!!                     

 

With quilts you can often purchase a pattern which defines the number of blocks of each colour, size of block, and even amount of fabric required.  I have made my own version based on what I see in this picture, as it allowed me to define the quilt and triangle size. The End Game pattern is a triangle pattern based on a 60-degree equilateral triangle.

I wanted this quilt to be big enough for a single bed, so I estimated that I would need ninety-nine 11" triangles, and eighteen 11" half triangles to make up the entire quilt top.

Material:      

100% Cotton fabric.  This quilt will be for my six-year-old daughter, so I am going with bright colours and patterns, similar to my inspiration image. 

Batting:        

I will be using 100% cotton batting for the layer between the top and bottom of my quilt.  This material is soft and natural, but doesn’t come with the expensive price tag of other materials such as wool or silk batting. Historically, quilters would collect sheep wool, clean and 'card' it (brush it between bristled paddles), then sew it into the quilt middle.  As you can imagine, this would be a very labour intensive process, so when a quilt wore out, the worn out quilt was used as batting for a new quilt.  

Stitching:     

Although I would love to hand stitch this quilt, to get done in this decade, I needed to machine quilt.  I have found out how to use a ‘walking foot’ to help guide the quilt through the machine, and also how to switch out the foot of my sewing machine!   I also really like that this quilt is allowing me to experiment with different methods of stitching the quilt layers together.  You can see in the image above that there are a few different styles of stitching (e.g. triangles, diamonds, and straight lines parallel to triangle edges).

Edge of Quilt:        

Traditional binding in a fun stripe! 

The Final Quilt

Some Final Thoughts at the End of Genius Hour...

1. Although this quilt is not perfect, and the process was frustrating at times, I am so glad that I have followed through to the end.  My daughter is thrilled with her quilt, and actually makes her bed every morning now that she can show it off (huge win for a six-year-old, we will see how long that lasts!).  Hopefully she will remember the times I sat up sewing until midnight, and take the memory of home and a mother's love with her when she strikes out on her own one day.  I love that in creating this quilt I have archived a moment in our family narrative for future generations.   

2. I was fascinated by the historical and cultural connections I discovered in researching many of my quilt patterns.  I had no idea what I would discover, and was impressed by the amount of information there is on the history of quilting.

3. As a first time quilter, I obviously was slower than someone familiar with the process, but my quilt product took a LONG time!  I would estimate that the entire process took about 100 hours from start to finish.  I am all for equality in parenting, but I'm dreading starting to make a quilt for my other daughter - will need to take a quilting hiatus!

4. My machine does not work well with a quilt this large, as there is not enough room to maneuver the quilt between the needle and machine base.  In future I will have to stick to smaller quilts (lap size or baby sized quilts?) to make the actual quilting go faster.  I am also curious to learn more about these 'long arm' quilting machines.  You can pay someone to quilt for you once you have pieced together the quilt top!!

I was also surprised that my quilt product cost a lot more than I anticipated.  All told, I spent about $250 in materials and startup tools.  Obviously if I had done a scrap quilt, the cost would have been significantly less.  Also, if I had followed a pattern I might not have so much excess fabric (I will likely have enough for another quilt!).  I will have to learn to be a more cost efficient quilter in future.

Thanks for coming on this journey with me, I hope you learned something!