I have made our four grandchildren full-sized quilts for their beds for their 6-year birthdays, all inspired by their own ideas. Kai and I discussed what he wanted; he decided the upside down/right side up shapes of the mountains and the colors of the stripes in ocean and sky.
We drew it on letter paper and then we put it in the computer and planned the placement of colors that he wanted. Then, I had to decide how to make it. Pointed bottles and paint brushes with thickened dyes seemed more possible than piecing or applique.
The result is three pieces of fabric that are joined by 2 curved seams. I used quilting patterns in different areas and added his name and the animal shapes he requested, hidden in the stitching. I documented as I worked and made a short video of Kai’s Quilt for my web site. In it, I discuss design and color decisions, dye painting large scale pieces, corn dextrin process, construction, and quilting. You can see more free
videos on my YouTube channel.
Click here to see and download my recipe for using corn dextrin as a resist.
Watch video
Making Kai’s Quilt
A quilting adventure. Ann describes making a quilt for her grandson, showing their steps in the design decisions, as well as details of using water soluble resist, painting with thickened dyes, washing the fabrics, assembly, quilting and photographing.
Image from video of me drawing black lines with thickened dye.
Image from video of Kai’s right side up and upside down mountains.
Mixing the thickened dye colors and testing on a cotton swatch before I paint.
Assembling the three parts with seams that follow the curves in the dyed design.
Smoothing the quilt, ready for photographs.