The theme for the challenge at the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show this year is Back in 1973. That was 50 years ago! Whoa! That really makes me feel old.
I loved the 70’s. I loved the colorful fun clothing, and I made many of my own clothes. I even made a quilt from the leftover fabrics, on the sewing machine my parents gave me for high school graduation. I drove a Chevy Chevelle (a gift from my parents for my 18th birthday), and dated my high school sweetheart, whom I’d eventually marry. I also was one of those weird kids who loved school, especially home economics and geometry. I was on the pom pon squad and loved going to all the games. Can you tell I “loved” the 70’s. I have so many wonderful memories and I knew I wanted to participate in this challenge, but how do I put that all into a quilt??? Perhaps in silhouette???
I’m not good at free hand drawing, but I’m great at surfing the internet for images of what I need and tracing the parts I want. This technique resulted in a girl of the 70’s (me?), the car, big flowers, the W (for Wauwatosa West), and pom pons:
If I was going to silhouette these images I’d need a background that would accent, but not takeaway. Hmm. There are loads of tie-dye fabrics available, but that didn’t seem personal enough. Then an idea struck. Remember how I said I’d made a quilt from all the leftover clothing fabrics? Well, it’s still on our bed, and I’ve even posted about the ugly thing. To read about a repair I did to it in 2018 click here.
Perhaps I should take a photo of a portion of it and have it printed on a yard of fabric via spoonflower.com. And that was just what I did. It turned out great (all the ugliness was in tact đ€Ł)!
I layered a piece of black/teal fabric on top of it, placed my full size, reversed pattern on the back, and stitched on the lines ala repliquĂ© (what else?). Then I trimmed away everything that wasn’t a silhouette.
Next I satin stitched all the edges and it was time to quilt. But what to use for the backing?
While I was working on the quilt my parents came over for dinner and I showed them my work in progress. Mom and I had fun remembering what each of the fabrics had been made into. Afterwards Mike suggested I write those memories on the fabric. It was too late to add it to the front of the quilt, but I could have another piece printed for the back ~ and I could add the notes via computer before sending it off to be printed! It worked great. I have to brag up Spoonflower. These one of a kind prints were less than $18/yard. It was so worth it!
Time to layer everything together and start quilting. I quilted around each image and along the piecing lines of the squares in the background.
It was fun quilting “the girl” with flowers in her boots,
fish net stockings,
and lots of swirls:
And here’s the finished quilt.
The night it was completed I asked Mike what he thought I should name it. We threw around a bunch of ideas and then one of us mentioned songs ~ and we both burst out laughing. On our first date a song came on the radio that Mike “dedicated” to me: Betcha By Golly Wow by the Stylistics. It was the perfect fit đ€Ł!
I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun making a quilt. Watch for Betcha By Golly Wow in Madison in September!
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Oh – I just found out that I will be presenting my lecture ~ Silhouettes and Shadows ~ at the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in September.
It will include the technique I used for this quilt, along with many other techniques. I’ll also be teaching my new workshop ~ Fall Into RepliquĂ© ~ from my book Modular Memory Quilts:
Registration for the show has begun and you can click here to sign up!
judy raddatz says
What a fun trip down memory lane. Thanks as always!
Lynn Stephens says
Such fun! I liked the 70s too. Also married my highschool sweetheart and we are celebrating our 50th this year.
Shellie Freisinger says
Your post brought back many memories. I also made most of my own clothes(my dress and 3 piece suit for my date for prom). I also received a sewing machine for graduation.
WANDA E KRUGER says
What an imagination!! Good “something” to do with an “ugly” quilt. You go , Girl.
Ellen Lewellen says
Yep. I graduated high school in â73, 50 years ago!! I have a similar âuglyâ quilt made from family clothing but I treasure it because my grandmother made it (tied and blanket stitched around the edges) into a baby quilt. She was getting up in years and knew she wouldnât live to see her great grand children, but nevertheless made a baby quilt for each of her teenage granddaughters. I was gifted other baby quilts when my first was born, but I treasured that one for all the memories it brought. Quilting is a hobby for ourselves, but also, hopefully, leaves a legacy for others.
Barb Jordan says
Such fun Chris. Great quilt as always!!
Dawn Ellen Weideman says
I did a lap quilt featuring high school memories for a girlfriend. It was not as involved as yourâs, but it got the message across.
Mary Wedor says
Great quilt! Love the story, thanks for sharing!
Rose Duchniak says
You are amazing! I canât wait to see it! I will be attending with a few quilting friends. They adopted me after our classes subsided.
Take care and I hope to see you there.
Rose
Techylist says
I love this blog! It’s so interesting and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next.