I have been a faithful reader of Uppercase magazine for a few years now and I finish reading each issue having been injected with a large dose of inspiration. The smell of the ink and the weight of the paper also leave my heart feeling pretty happy. Editor Janine Vangool of Calgary will be releasing her second line of fabric later this fall, UPPERCASE Volume 2: Dot, Dashes and Diamonds. When studying the designs in the look book, I saw how literally the collection was named. Each is made of a small scale prints, some with just diamonds, some with just dashes, some with a combinations of the elements. And I wanted to do some qualitative math. That was the inception of the “Wood Type Quilt.”
The cover of Uppercase Issue No. 25 features Joey Hannaford’s work, with wood type overlaid on top each other. The transparency of the ink shows the layers beneath and upon inspection, you can tell the order in which the inks were printed. Josef Albers talks about this in his book, The Interaction of Color. The second colour lays on top and appears more dominant in the overlapped area. I wanted to replicate this effect in fabric and came up with two uppercase Xs in the Bernino typeface rotated at 90 degrees. One is “printed” in yellow, and then “overlaid” with cyan (blue). I wish I had a better reason for using Bernino as the font, but the truth is that I like the way it looked and I enjoyed the star shape that came about in their overlap. The name of the font also sounds like Bernina, as in the sewing machine brand.
I did not want to endeavour to repeat this paper-pieced block many times over, so I decided to make it the centre of this medallion quilt. I played with overlapping “transparent” squares that radiated outward from the centre.
There are some things I would do differently next time. An accurate scant 1/4” seam, it turns out, is important. The number of seams per “ring” in the medallion is different and results in long strips that don’t match up. There was a lot of fudging as I forced points to align. Secondly, as I quilted the Vs with my walking foot going into the quilt and then pushing out again to the edge of the quilt, my border got wavy. The blip is well-hidden by my two quilt holders, who measure 39” and 44” in height. They reached up as high as possible to hold this 48” x 48” quilt.
I took Angela Walter’s class “Dot to Dot: Quilting with Piecing as Your Guide” on Craftsy and was inspired to give it a try with my walking foot. I used the technique at the corner of the centre block; it brings attention to the X as the focal point of the quilt. Actually, pretty much every element of this quilt draws your eye to the centre. X marks the spot.
Pieced quilt back.
Wonderful sublte transparency and quilting! Well done!
I love this quilt!!! Especially the centre X.
I plan to have the X block up as a free pattern/tutorial soon… just as soon as I have time! 😉
Love this quilt – it’s beautiful!
Absolutely stunning!
Love it! The colours are wonderful!
I love this quilt, fabric and how you explain your thought process of design and quilting!
I love the crossover with math and textile art! The transparent pieces are amazing. I would like to experiment with the transparency of these fabrics on a much smaller scale to suit my skillset 🙂
LOVE the colours, and the straight lines. Everything about this quilt is just beautiful.
This quilt is beautiful!! Well done.
Feels like spring. You managed to use most of my favourite colours! Love it – pattern, fabric choices.
The color transparency really works with these fabrics! Love your “X” block. Looking forward to the pattern & trying to create the transparency effect.
I really like what you’ve done ,the transparency looks amazing and the colors are beautiful and the quilting is petfect for this quilt.
Love! I’m a Math teacher – I get it. I will be in Halifax at the end of the month. I see you do classes. Do you have a studio to visit?
This is such a great quilt! Just beautiful.
The quilt is stunning, and I love learning about your design process with the center block.
Love the transparency look! These colors are so fresh!
I love the saturated colors and have a couple quilt patterns that would work great with these fabrics.
Always fun to see what happening here.
I love the illusion of the fabrics blending together. Wonderful effect!
I would love to use the fabrics in making a more modern patterned quilt. I usually use more traditional patterns and have become enamored of the more modern patterns but have not as yet tried one.
Great quilt and Instagram giveaway. _bosissy cork@pa.rr.com
Beautiful summery palette. The transparency idea is amazing! Great way to play with colour.
I love the transparency and using type as a design sounds interesting. Hmmmm … now I’m thinking !!!
Lovely!! The transparency is beautiful, im not great with creating that look so I really admire when someone else does it really well!
Wow it’s a pretty flippin’awesome quilt!!! That transparency effect is WOW!!!
I love the colours in this quilt and the transparency. I think the fabrics would make a great drunkards path like in the print!
I always love reading about the thought process that goes in to patchwork making. I’d love to see it with multiple transparent Xs as well. I look forward to the pattern and Janine’s new fabrics.
Your quilt is amazing! So pretty! Love how you used the fabrics to show the overlay of colors.
I do not feel I have the experience or knowledge to opine about your thought process or creativity that was applied to design this beautiful quilt, The colors are stunning and make a bold statement . I have only been quilting for 3 years and years down the line I hope to acquire a small portion of your talent!
Beautiful quilt. It is good to hear others mention about the trials and issues they have with various blocks and putting the quilt together. The colours and design are just gorgeous.
Very original design, and the colors are wonderful. To sum up: it’s a winner!
Beautiful quilt!
Amazing design!!! Love those colours too!!
You are incredibly talented!!
Wow. I love what you did. What would I do with these spectacular fabrics?
I would also make a new quilt for top of my bed. I have an idea of x’s and o’s. but not lined up side to side
What a fresh modern design that appeals to the engineer in me! I love the subtle designs in the fabric, that make many of them read as a solid, but not quite! ♥️ And trust me, if your quilt is being used, tossed on the sofa, part of a fort being built, or being snuggled under, no one will notice a slightly wavy border. Done is better than perfect! ♥️♥️♥️
I like the idea of using qualitative math with those fabrics. And the X makes a wonderful focal point!
Love the design ❤️😍 what a beautiful quilt!
Delightful fresh looking quilt. The fabrics are gorgeous and you certainly did them justice in this quilt. I’d love to play with this line.
I love the use of fabrics to create the appearance of transparency. So cool! Also in love with medallion quilts and typography. Awesome all around!
This is gorgeous! I’ve been wanting to make a transparency quilt forever and this has me inspired!