The Cursive Project: Quilts

I've always wanted to make a quilt. To be more accurate, I've always wanted to pick out fabrics and design a quilt. I have no interest in actually sewing one. So when Trevor wrote "Quilt" on his A-Z list for The Cursive Project, I decided we'd make paper quilts. That way I'd get to do the 'fabric' selection and designing part, without the pesky sewing part. 

I did a brief lesson with Trevor, explaining that for centuries quilts have been made using leftover bits and pieces of fabric, sewn together in a beautiful, repeating pattern. I showed him different quilt patterns and how they can vary from quite simple to incredibly elaborate. We saw how different fabric colors and patterns can make two quilts with the same pattern look completely different. 

We got out Tanya's box of scraps and dug in. Trevor chose orange, white, yellow, and black patterned papers. I started with blue, green, and yellow. We punched them into 1.5-inch squares, then cut some of them diagonally to make triangles, and started experimenting with our designs.

I didn't expect Trevor to love this project as much as he did! But now that I think about it, it's right up his alley. He likes art, of course, but he has an engineer's brain and loves everything to do with mazes, puzzles, and patterns. He really enjoyed creating his own pattern and repeating it to create a larger picture. 

Once we were happy with our designs, we started gluing the pieces one-by-one to sheets of white cardstock. It was very hard to keep the pieces lined up straight, despite taking our time and doing our most careful work. I can only imagine how much harder it would be sewing fabric versus gluing paper!

Despite the fact that they aren't straight, Trevor and I both love our quilts. Here is Trevor's:

This one is mine:

I have a feeling we'll be making more of these in the future.