quilt of life

 

hello gypsies. it's november, which for me means family, and reminiscing and family. so to celebrate, i created the "quilt of life". i'm very fortunate to have a mom who loves genealogy, and so our family has a wealth of photos dating back to the 1800s. six generations are on this quilt! so are you ready gypsies? well here we go...

i used papers from our "free bird" series, grabbing and mixing and matching to create the quilt. to get a softer, more fabric-like effect, i dipped each piece in warm water and crunched it into a ball. then i opened them up and let them dry flat. because the paper is so thick it can take the abuse, and the end result is a softly rumpled look.

while the paper was drying, i printed out the photos on canvas. you can buy ink jet canvas at your local office supply store. i converted the photos to sepia tones, for a more antique look.

once the papers were dry, i tacked down the photos and other papers with a bit of adhesive, and then sewed each 6x6 panel - stitching the photos and paper trims onto the squares, and adding extra stitching for accents. then i sewed the squares into rows and stitched the rows together into the quilt.

final touches meant treating each square like a tiny page layout. i used authentique elements as well as lots of trinkets from my stash of random elements. i also used some bottle cap charms i've been experimenting with.

i hope this provides you with lots of inspiration. keep stopping by for more as the holiday season unfolds. don't forget to come back for the next "so knotty" tutorial tomorrow, and starting december 1, i'll be posting xmas projects galore!

materials used:
"free bird" papers and paper elements - authentique
trinkets - tim holtz idea-ology, marion smith, prima
"walnut stain", "vintage photo", "frayed burlap" - tim holtz distress inks