{"id":2472,"date":"2015-01-01T15:39:21","date_gmt":"2015-01-01T23:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.terryaskeartquilts.com\/Studio\/?p=2472"},"modified":"2015-11-16T10:42:29","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T18:42:29","slug":"galaxy-quilt-start-to-finish-2014-12-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.terryaskeartquilts.com\/Studio\/2015\/01\/01\/galaxy-quilt-start-to-finish-2014-12-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Galaxy quilt – start to finish – 2014.12.31"},"content":{"rendered":"

As promised, here’s my construction process of the galaxy quilt from start to finish.\u00a0 (I’m still referring to it as ‘the galaxy quilt’ because I haven’t decided on a title for it.)\u00a0 Be warned, this is a long post.\u00a0 It includes some photos I posted previously, plus a lot more information and photos.<\/p>\n

Concept and design<\/strong> – For several months, I\u2019ve been thinking about making an abstract art quilt of a spiral galaxy<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 After looking at a lot of galaxy images, I made a rough sketch of the shape I wanted to use for a quilt.\u00a0 My original idea was to redraw and refine my sketch, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked the abstract look of the sketch.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my original sketch.\u00a0 I photocopied it at 400%, and traced it onto tracing paper with a more dramatic tilt to it.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN4244\"<\/a>\u00a0 \"DSCN4245\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pattern<\/strong> – Then I enlarged the tracing paper image by 400% onto 8 pieces of 11 x 17 inch paper.\u00a0 I taped those together to make my full-size pattern, which you can see below pinned on my design wall. Then I traced the design onto freezer paper, which I cut into pattern pieces and ironed to the back of the fabrics.\u00a0 I numbered all the pattern pieces on the full-size pattern and on the freezer paper – so I wouldn’t lose track of which piece went where.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN4248\"<\/a>\u00a0 \"TerryAske-galaxy<\/a><\/p>\n

Fabrics<\/strong> – I pulled a lot of fabrics with black or dark backgrounds, plus a few of lighter ones for the center.\u00a0 My original choices included a lot of warmer pink and red-violet colors.\u00a0 As I auditioned the fabrics on my design wall, I decided I wanted cooler colors – blue, purple and a bit of teal.\u00a0 (I will likely make another galaxy quilt in the future with the more dramatic pink and violet colors.)<\/p>\n

For each pattern piece, I ironed the freezer paper template to the back of the fabric, cut it out with a 1\/4″ allowance, then pinned it to the master pattern on the design wall.<\/p>\n

I started with the center pieces in the lighter, brighter fabrics, then the outer pieces with the darkest fabrics. And finally the medium value blue fabrics.\u00a0 I was determined to use only fabrics from my stash, so some fabric choices were dictated by the amount of fabric I had.<\/p>\n

\"Galaxy<\/a>\u00a0 \"Galaxy<\/a><\/p>\n

I tried not to dither too much about my fabric choices.\u00a0 There was one fabric that I really didn’t like and changed later on – the gray on gray star fabric (left photo below) was replaced with a dark navy with white dots (right photo).\u00a0 I think it added quite a sparkle.<\/p>\n

\"TerryAske-galaxy-pinned<\/a>\u00a0 \"Terry<\/a><\/p>\n

Construction process<\/strong> – Starting with the center pieces, I fused the pieces together.\u00a0 I only applied fusible web to the overlapping edges of each piece, and in most cases used 1\/2″ fusible tape.\u00a0 By fusing only the edges, I saved time, used a lot less fusible web, and the quilt is less stiff.\u00a0 The disadvantage was that the fused pieces were only attached at the seam allowances, which made it a little flimsy to work with, and if I didn’t press the pieces well they sometimes fell apart and had to be reattached.\u00a0 I started the process using Lite Steam-a-Seam tape.\u00a0 When I ran out of that, I turned to some EZ Steam tape<\/a> I had on hand.\u00a0 The EZ Steam was much stickier – which had advantages (it stayed in place better when finger pressed) and disadvantages (it would stick to itself if I didn’t pay close attention).<\/p>\n

Here are the steps I followed to attach each piece to the previously assembled pieces (I wrote these steps out for myself, because the repetitive steps get boring and if I missed a step I risked fusing the tape to the freezer paper or iron):<\/p>\n