Sunday, March 30, 2014

chicago flag

A while back we were given a challenge at our Naperville Modern Quilt Guild to make a Modern in the City quilt.

I was quite lost and almost decided not to participate in the challenge at all. I thought of doing skyscrapers, windows, busy roads, or urban gardens, but the whole time it felt like I was trying to come up with a quilt that simply was not "me".


And then I came across a picture of our Chicago flag. Amazingly I've lived in Chicago + Chicago suburbs for over 16 years and I never really noticed the flag. Who knew cities had their own flags!?!?


I drafted my own pattern for the star, I broke tons of paper piecing rules and wasted lots of material making it, but I was quite happy with the way it turned out.


Thankfully this aqua circular outline was also a lot less nightmarish than I thought and it all came together pretty well (all those geometry classes I had to take in high school are finally paying off :) ).


Then it was on to quilting. I first quilted straight lines about 2.5" apart to stabilize the whole thing and then gradually filled in all the matchstick quilting. I must say, the transformation was amazing.


My quilts are usually all about piecing and quilting is there just to hold the layers together, but this matchstick quilting totally makes this quilt. ♥♥♥


And look, no more snow!!! Yay, spring has finally decided to show up.

Finished size of this quilt is 36" x 36".

Thanks for reading friends. Hope you too are having a beautiful spring day. Svetlana

29 comments:

  1. What a super cool quilt! I love that the flag was your inspiration. I've never heard of matchstick quilting but the look is striking.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really impressive. I'm amazed at how the quilting transforms the flag.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's absolutely fabulous, love it, especially the quilting!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is really quiet beautiful and simple all at the same time but not simple to do!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Svetlanko, nadherne!! A mas pravdu, jdu se hned podivat na nas znak/vlajku... :) Mej krasne a konecne jarni dny! Pa, Jola

    ReplyDelete
  6. Excellent! I am a relatively new convert to the narrow straight line quilting and I love it! You used a LOT of thread on this big project.

    ReplyDelete
  7. this is really beautiful, amazing how a little inspiration and challenge can turn itself into something so simple and stunning. Great work!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, I love this! you're right! the matchstick quilting is just fantastic :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Completely awesome, Svetlana! It's wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is great! Love the matchstick quilting.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Amazing. This is a beautiful quilt - love how it fits the call of the challenge and is still super beautiful and modern. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love it! Please send the 'no snow' vibe here! I need to see some green other than my fabric! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. It looks great! I am so glad you stuck with it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is spectacular! So happy you kept at it and answered the challenge. Very inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love the simplicity of this quilt, Svetlana! You're so right -- the quilting absolutely transforms it!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love your quilt. I have been to Chicago many many times, who knew there was a city flag? You definitly rose to the challenge, your quilting is fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great idea & it looks wonderfu!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great job! The quilting really does make the quilt :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I cannot tell you how enamored of this quilt I am! I made a Chicago flag quilt a few years ago for my brother-in-law, so this quilt type is near and dear to my heart! See mine here: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/85427724155748073/. I've also pinned yours to my Quilty Goodness board on Pinterest (with proper credit, of course) at the same link. I would LOOOOVE a pattern for the stars (or this entire quilt) if you've got one. (The stars were a particular pain in my butt.) I love your take on it and would love to do something similar.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love the simplicity! Bet it took forever to quilt, wowza

    Hillary

    ReplyDelete
  21. Love it, and the quilting is fantastic x

    ReplyDelete
  22. Beautiful quilt! The quilting is awesome. It really does make the quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Okay.... I know this is an old post, but I LOVE this quilt and I wish all city flags were this easy to be made into a quilt!! Here's a link to a TED talk that's somewhat related! https://www.ted.com/talks/roman_mars_why_city_flags_may_be_the_worst_designed_thing_you_ve_never_noticed?language=en

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. easy is relative of course.... if Chicago's city flag was just the city seal on a banner, you probably wouldn't have wanted to make it into a quilt!!

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...