Friday, February 24, 2012

It's a Bird, It's a Plane....It's a Plane Quilt


 About three weeks ago, I was reading a quilting blog that I enjoy and the writer referenced a Flickr photo she had seen of a quilt that was displayed at the Tokyo International Quilt Show--all she wrote was '81 airplanes'.  Immediately, I clicked and fell in love with this quilt.  You see, we have an airplane lover in our house--actually, lover is not a strong enough word--perhaps obsessed or fixated gives a better picture of my son Isaac's fascination with airplanes.  He was pointing out flying things in the sky long before he could talk or walk.  Currently, at 8 years of age, he studies a 500 page book on classic military aircraft and is involved in an 'identify this airplane' game with his grandpa over e-mail.
So yes, I had to make this quilt.  About 12 hours after first seeing the quilt from the Tokyo show I began sketching my own block. I decided upon a 9 inch block--and calculated I would have to make 63 blocks.
Here is my sketch that I cut up to make my templates--I glued the paper pieces to the cardboard so I could place my fabric pieces there until they were ready to be sewn---with 16 different pieces to each block and I was quite certain if I didn't organize it this way I would be mixing up pieces and frustrating myself.
 
 
 I dug through all of my fabric scraps first--I wanted to use as many of those as possible--and then I went for solids and other prints that I had yardage of.  I had so much fun putting the 63 blocks together.  Each block took on average 30 minutes to cut out (by hand), sew, press, and trim.  That is at least 31.5 hours of quilting. As I laid in bed last night I told my husband that I can't believe I finished this quilt top in less than 3 weeks.  I thought it would take me months--it turns out that quilting gives me super-natural powers :)

 And so here it is--Isaac's airplane quilt--with one piece of border missing--it's on order and should arrive next week. When I asked Isaac what he thought of it he said "Totally awesome." A high compliment as any mother of an 8 year old would tell you!
By the way, the border and tiny one inch squares separating the blocks is Yarn Dyed Essex Linen and Cotton blend fabric from Robert Kaufman Fabrics in Denim--it is a joy to work with and gives the quilt that boy feeling I was looking for.  I found mine here.

 A few of my favorite blocks:



So, my next step is finishing it off---I am in need of some advice---has anyone out there ever sent a quilt to the Amish to be hand-quilted?  What kind of cost are we talking for a twin size quilt?  I would like to try it--I have Googled it but I would like to have a personal recommendation if possible.

I am linking up to Amanda Jean's 'Finish it Up Friday'.
Have a great weekend--I will be dreaming up my next project......

30 comments:

  1. All I've ever heard is thst it's expensive $300-400, but of course beautifully done. I have a lady that does my machine quilting fairly inexpensively. Email if you are interested.

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  2. BTW, ridiculously awesome quilt!!!

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  3. Wow!! What a wonderful quilt, really impressive, I agree with Issac, awesome. Not just a quilt for your son, but a keepsake too. I bet no matter how old he is he'll remember the airplane quilt his mom made for him.

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  4. I love it..and I can't believe how fast you got it done!!!

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  5. Whoa! YOu are amazing! This is a REAL treasure. ;)

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  6. Oh wow...you are SO driven! That is one awesome quilt...I would have probably only made 9 or so planes and put borders around it, but you went all the way! YAY for you! Love, love the planes; I'm sure Isaac will treasure it. I've never used Amish handquilters so can't help you there. Love your creativity and your enthusiasm (and your fabrics)!!

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  7. What a labor of love - that's awesome!

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  8. Oh Wow! This is amazing! All three of the men in my life are airplane lovers, so I know this would be popular in our house! Sadly, I don't have your skills. Good luck finding the right quilter!

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  9. What a fun quilt! Great job on creating the pattern from scratch:)

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  10. You are a truly amazing mom. I'm working on quilts for all my boys. My oldest asked for an R2D2 quilt and it's ready to be quilted. It's the C3PO one that I'm struggling with.

    Love love love the quilt. So perfect.

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  11. What an amazing quilt! So, so beautiful. Well done. Your son will love and cherish this forever.

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  12. You did a fantastic job on that quilt! Love all the detail and fun fabrics in those little airplanes!

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  13. Fantastic! I can just imagine how much he'll love that quilt. Great job, Mama! :o)

    I have a smaller airplane quilt in my future. Haven't started cutting yet, but soon... my niece is expecting a baby boy in June, and both she and her husband are Air Force pilots. It HAS to be an airplane quilt for that baby, right? lol

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  14. Carin - wow! I am so impressed and I LOVE the detail. I am also smiling everytime I think of Isaac with his airplane quilt, what a joy.

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  15. Great job on the quilt! I love airplanes too

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  16. This is a GREAT quilt! Love the colors and the blocks.

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  17. Carin, it's absolutely wonderful!!!! you are such a thoughtful mama!!!

    were the blocks hard to put together? did it involve y seams? i would have thought it would be a good candidate for paper piecing. but maybe not?

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  18. Wow Carin, beautiful quilt. I can't believe you cut all those pieces. I had a thought while looking it over. How about a paper piecing block? You could sell them to help raise $$ for Margaret's Hope Chest. Just a thought noisy me thought to pass on.

    blessings, jilly

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  19. beautiful plane quilt! thanks for sharing. Here is a link to information about having it handquilted by Amish - here in Etheridge, TN
    http://plainandsimplequilts.com/customhandquilting.htm#Hand Quilting Service

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  20. OMG! You ARE a super-quilter. I am so amazed!!

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  21. oh my word...

    I totally adore this lovely quilt. My little man would love it. Unfortunately I am not so seasoned when it comes to paper piecing... But maybe I could do a throw pillow???

    Thanks for the inspiration.

    I LOVE it...

    ~jen

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  22. Do you have a pattern to share? :o) I want to make one for my future son's room because his father is in the aerospace industry and I have been searching everywhere for a pattern that I love.

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  24. Thanks for sharing. My four-year old grandson is as obsessed with planes as your son seems to be. This will be on my Christmas list. Of course, then is older brother will need one with baseball bats!

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