I have wanted to make a true I-Spy quilt for sooooo long that now that I'm doing it I'm perhaps going a little overboard ... err, I mean trying to make it the biggest and best I can.
So far I have 400 different 4 inch squares which I'm sewing into 25 patches. I'm making 16 of these.
I love, love, love all the squares. The quilt is made of scraps of pretty much every novelty fabric I've ever had, plus fabrics given to me by so many quilty friends (including a fun I-Spy swap). 
My kids are really excited for me to get this quilt done. They keep asking for updates. You can see in the photo above that I am bordering each 25 patch with a solid.
I ordered 16 different Kona solids to use. As tempting as it was to just make the quilt a giant sea of patchwork since I love quilts made of simple squares, I wanted to use the solids to dress it up a bit, but more importantly, help make the I-Spy game easier to play. With 400 squares, finding an item could be tricky, so the colours can be used as hints. As in, "I spy something in the green square ..."
These are the Kona colours I have. I am tempted to put a border on the quilt too. I just don't know. I may actually be able to scrape up another 100 different squares, we'll see. Knowing me, it probably will end up with a border since I have this vision of the "ultimate" I-Spy quilt in my mind ...
Just a tip I thought I'd throw out there in case this is a new idea you want to try (maybe everyone already does this, I don't know) Anyway, I often fussy cut up panels to make really unique I-Spy squares. Panels are fabulous for getting fancy pictures to use. I bought the panel above last weekend for $2.19. Every dog on the family tree is different and cut out nicely into a 4 inch square. So the price of the panel was about that of a fat quarter, but I was able to get many more individual squares, all different, than I ever would have from a single fat quarter. I know many panels are more expensive than this, but even for a little more $$, it is worth it I think for a special quilt to thrill a child.
On other quilting fronts, look what Amy sent me!! Thanks so much!!!
And Jean from the KVQG. Selvages and some I-Spy fabric scraps. At the top is a vintage Robert Kaufman print of a dollhouse, perfect! Thanks!!!
And Nancy from the KVQG, who had given me a selvage mountain previously, had more! Thanks!!! Quilting friends are the best.
I ordered 16 different Kona solids to use. As tempting as it was to just make the quilt a giant sea of patchwork since I love quilts made of simple squares, I wanted to use the solids to dress it up a bit, but more importantly, help make the I-Spy game easier to play. With 400 squares, finding an item could be tricky, so the colours can be used as hints. As in, "I spy something in the green square ..."
These are the Kona colours I have. I am tempted to put a border on the quilt too. I just don't know. I may actually be able to scrape up another 100 different squares, we'll see. Knowing me, it probably will end up with a border since I have this vision of the "ultimate" I-Spy quilt in my mind ...
Just a tip I thought I'd throw out there in case this is a new idea you want to try (maybe everyone already does this, I don't know) Anyway, I often fussy cut up panels to make really unique I-Spy squares. Panels are fabulous for getting fancy pictures to use. I bought the panel above last weekend for $2.19. Every dog on the family tree is different and cut out nicely into a 4 inch square. So the price of the panel was about that of a fat quarter, but I was able to get many more individual squares, all different, than I ever would have from a single fat quarter. I know many panels are more expensive than this, but even for a little more $$, it is worth it I think for a special quilt to thrill a child.
On other quilting fronts, look what Amy sent me!! Thanks so much!!!
And Jean from the KVQG. Selvages and some I-Spy fabric scraps. At the top is a vintage Robert Kaufman print of a dollhouse, perfect! Thanks!!!
And Nancy from the KVQG, who had given me a selvage mountain previously, had more! Thanks!!! Quilting friends are the best.I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday. Click on over if you want to see lots of other great posts about what other quilters are working on.
