Pop Culture Quilts

These days, people have lots of interests, hobbies and collections – Lego, Bluey, Star Wars, Taylor Swift, or their favourite dog breed. And an amazing gift for someone with a particular passion is a custom quilt that celebrates it!

But translating a favourite concept into a two-dimensional quilt can be tricky. Luckily, there are lots of ways to achieve it using different techniques so you can create something special and stress-free.

FPP, or Foundation Paper Piecing, lends itself brilliantly to the odd angles and unusual shapes that come from trying to get characters into fabric.

If you’re not a FPP fan, another great way to get the odd shapes of characters into fabric form is through applique. Print out a line drawing off the internet, or borrow a colouring book and pick a drawing from that. The ability to layer applique means that you can add lots of detail without teeny tiny piecing.

Pixel quilting, using small squares of fabric, can be a great way to get a quilt that looks like a complex image, but pieced with simple squares. It’s perfect for themes like making a Minecraft quilt, or a Lego quilt. But this technique can also be used for more complex patterns. Look for patterns for cross stitch or melty bead pictures to get an idea, or search your character name + pixel, and use solid fabrics.

Simple embroidery is a great way to create different designs, and again you can go to your trusty illustration sources like colouring books for a pattern. If you have an embroidery machine, you may be able to find suitable patterns too. Mix a patchwork grid with larger squares with a plain background and do your embroidery on these feature squares.

You don’t always need a complex pattern, if the theme you’re working with has such a distinct colour scheme. An example of this is MakerValley’s Taylor Swift Eras quilt, which can be found on her IG. It’s simply colour blocked patchwork based on posters, as Taylor Swift’s eras are recognised by colour.

Many popular movies and cartoons have been widely represented in fabric, including Disney Princesses, Harry Potter and Star Wars. Source fabrics, either a panel or all over prints, for your chosen theme and create an easy quilt using fabrics you know will be a popular choice. A more subtle licenced print can make a great border or background when mixed with other techniques such as FPP or applique, or mix some licensed prints with squares in your chosen fandom’s colour scheme for a fun patchwork quilt.

This is an edited excerpt from Jane Kelly’s original piece Pop Culture Quilts. Read the full article in Make Modern Issue #58.

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