A Lasting Impression

Friday, March 3, 2017

It's time for another Project Quilting challenge! The theme for this week's challenge is "well-dressed man." I had a unique way to interpret this one!


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts


Project Quilting - well dressed man

Project Quilting has its roots from the television show Project Runway. There's a theme posted on Sunday, and you have one week to make something based on that prompt. Your project has to have at least one of three things: include patchwork, include applique, and/or have three layers stitched together by hand or machine. This is the fifth challenge - there's only one more left until the end of the season! See my previous makes for this year here: Challenge 1, challenge 2, challenge 3, and challenge 4. The challenge is really helping me get a good start to my "17 quilts in 2017" goal!


I also feel like the challenge prompts are the start to a game of Chain Reaction (remember that gameshow??). The game gets you to go from one word to another using phrases or compound words. Here's an example that shows how to go from HALF to PLANT.

HALF
PIPE
DREAM
TEAM
ROCKET
POWER
PLANT

So....for this challenge, I did a little chain reaction thinking to come up with my idea.

WELL-DRESSED MAN
MAN IN UNIFORM
MILITARY UNIFORM
MILITARY BOOTS
BOOT PRINTS

My husband is an Air Force veteran, but has been out for over a decade. I decided to try and get a picture of a current boot. My friend's husband is in the Air Force and sent me a picture of his boot.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

I originally thought about using tan fabric for the whole cloth quilt, but decided I wanted to go a more symbolic route, so I chose Kona white by Robert Kaufman fabrics. White symbolizes peace.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts
Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

I printed the boot print lifesize in grayscale and taped it to a window. Then I taped my white fabric over the photo and used a disappearing ink pen to trace the boot prints.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts
Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

I made a quilt sandwich using two layers of cotton batting and a red, white, and blue fabric for the backing and pin basted the layers together.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts
Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts


Before Christmas, I bought a Juki TL-2010Q sewing machine, but hadn't ever used it yet. This was the quilt to start! So this is the first quilt made with my new-to-me machine!


Juki TL-2010Q Slice of Pi Quilts

Using white Aurifil thread, I began by densely quilting the boot prints. I used a micro stipple to create very dense quilting.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

Then I had to stop and make supper. After finishing up the dishes, I came back to this.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

The disappearing ink that claims it disappears in 2-10 days, disappeared completely in just 4 hours!! I had to sleep on it to calm down.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

I decided to un-baste the quilt, and retrace the rest of the boot print (only one this time!).


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

I finished up the quilting for that boot, then un-basted again to trace the second boot.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

It was like a quilting race to finish before the ink disappeared! Crazy!


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

I originally planned to quilt the background with pebbles to mimic the ground/sand, but after finishing the boots, decided adding anything else would just take away from the boot prints.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

Once finished, I trimmed the quilt to 16" x 18" and bound it using more white fabric. I wanted the quilting to be the star, and thought a colored binding would draw your eye away from that.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts
Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts
Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

I tried many new things with this quilt - even a new sewing machine! This is my first whole cloth quilt too. And just like every time I try new things, I learned a lot!


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts
Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts
Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

I wanted the quilt to speak for itself. I wanted the viewer to be able to interpret it the way that most impacted them. I have my own thoughts, but I hope that the quilt has meaning for you too.

Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts


I wanted the left boot print to be farther forward to symbolize how military marching always begins with the left foot.

Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

Did you know that 6,868 6,875 men and women have given their life for America since 2001? One Three this year. (Sadly, the numbers change often. In the few days this blog post went from draft to published, the numbers changed. You can get an up to date count here.) The footprints on the quilt represent the soldier(s) that left a mark, but is no longer with us. Even though we can't see the soldier, he/she has left a lasting impression. On us. For us. For America.


Project Quilting military boot print whole cloth quilt by Slice of Pi Quilts

"A Lasting Impression"
16" x 18"
Wholecloth quilt
Kona white and Aurifil white
Designed, created, and quilted by Laura Piland of Slice of Pi Quilts
Southwest Missouri

Head over to Persimon Dreams to see all the "well-dressed man" inspired quilts and vote for your favorites!


Linking up to Persimon Dreams for ProjectQuilting Challenge 5, Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday at Celtic Thistle Stitches, Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, Show Off Saturday at Sew Can She, Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts, and Fabric Frenzy Friday at Fort Worth Fabric Studio.


28 comments:

  1. WOW!!! This is such an amazing idea and I just love how you achieved a boot print through dense quilting. And despite the disappearing ink woes...it looks like you and your new Juki are off to a great start!! I too have the same machine and absolutely love it!!

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  2. That is just so awesome! wow

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  3. I am so very impressed with this quilt. My cousin lost her son to PTSD. With your permission, I'd like to make her a quilt somewhat like this using his boots. I have a few ideas that might change the pattern a bit, but it's still your original idea and I would not consider without your permission. Either way, you should know that your quilt is stunning.

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  4. This is very interesting. Quilting is fab and replicate beautiful foot print on snow so nicely.

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  5. Well done, and I love the thought behind it. :D

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  6. Love this. I did footprint outlining on a gift quilt using the treadmarks of my friend's favorite running shoes, but I didn't fill spaces in like you did here. I can well imagine the race to finish before you lost the markings!

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  7. I'm all choked up reading this! My son is just returning to training after Boot Camp, he is a Marine. So this hits close to home for me. I love what you did! Thanks for sharing and leaving such an impression on me!

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  8. Your quilt is very profound in the silence and respect.
    My son is in the Air Force and I am proud of his service. Please thank your husband for his service.

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  9. This is excellent in message and execution! Thank you!

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  10. This is absolutely incredible. What an impactful piece! I am so happy you stopped quilting when you did ... you were absolutely right - anything more would have taken away from the boots.

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  11. This is amazing and so well thought out and done. What a great tribute to our men and woman that serve!
    I had to show my husband (retired after 30 years in the military). He was so impressed he went on and voted for your quilt.
    Thanks for sharing your process!

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  12. Thank you for showing us your process. This is amazing.

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  13. This is very impactful - the decision to have only the boot prints as the impression was spot on!

    About the disappearing ink - I had a similar situation where a friend wrote something onto fabric, then brought it to my house so I could embroider it. Unfortunately this ink disappears with heat, so after having it in the hot car for the morning, by the time she stopped by the house, her lines were gone! We didn't know that all she had to do was place the fabric in the freezer to reactivate the lines, but it made for a funny story anyway. You may want to try some different marking tools - like the blue ink, that disappears with water. Personally, I just use a light pencil line, but I can see that would have detracted from this piece, which AGAIN, is amazing.

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  14. Fantastic idea. Very well executed!

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  15. I can not thank you enough for this idea..I could never make it because I can not stop crying. My family is military and watching my sister, two brothers, and husband go and hoping to hear from them has been very life changing for me. I love all the thought that you put into this quilt. I do not see how you could improve it...it is perfect.

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  16. This is fantastic! Love what you did!

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  17. Hi Laura - I am popping over from the 2017NQB group. What an amazing post to come across for the firs time here. This is just an amazing piece of work - stunning!

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  18. Beautiful quilt and story. Appreciate the step-by-step of your process. :-)

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  19. An absolutely amazing quilt and a wonderful post on the process too.

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  20. Thank you, to you, your husband, and the rest of the family, for all of your service to our country. I am a military mom, with a Soldier and a Sailor. You know , as do I, that the whole family serves. I have seen many, many Quilts of Valor, and I have presented some. This wonderful design of yours, has touched me like no other. Thank you.💚

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  21. Too wonderful and meaningful for words. Thank you to your husband for his service to our country. I love what you've done and what it symbolizes. Well done.

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  22. I love seeing your thought processes. And such a wonderful mini quilt.

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  23. You should enter this quilt in the Springville (Utah) At Museum quilt show in August of this year. ITS AMAZING! I'd love to help you get it entered if needed. @polkadotquilting IG. Beautiful beautiful

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  24. Love your quilt, and thank you for showing us your process...

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  25. your mind is just incredible! I love this idea so much... I couldn't have come up with it in a million years

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  26. WOW!! That is incredible!! It's so symbolic and not and beautiful and just a little of everything that means something. I'm am totally impressed!!!

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  27. It's 2023 as I read this, but the impact of this quilted piece brings me to tears. Thank God for our military and those who appreciate them.

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