Scrubs Quilt?
Yes, an animal theme quilt constructed from Dr. Gloria's collection of veterinary scrubs she and her staff provided. The goal was to make a good looking queen size quilt for their boss Dr. Karen.
on the quilt frame--while free style quilting spirals of feathers
Looking at the take up bar at the top, you can see I've added two art panels of color on the gray backing from more of the scrubs fabric strips.
Dr. Gloria picked out the blue sashing fabric, and neutral gray backing. Great Choice! She said blue is Dr. Karen's favorite color.
This quilt features big blocks of stars with 16 patch centers
and big four patch blocks to show off the scrubs!
The best part of putting blocks together from "found materials" like scrubs--is understanding
you don't always get the contrast you were hoping for.
But the focus becomes examining big and small fabric slices in the block. It becomes a game of recognizing who's scrub is that one? A quilted version of where's Waldo?
And, there are only so many garment fabrics to pair together, trying to squeeze out some contrast.
Here's some nice contrast, but every block can't be dark blue.
Finished quilting, rolling it off the quilt frame.
This is a great chance to see the blue sashing. I call this City Lights Sashing, but you might call it something else. They say there is nothing new under the sun, however if you give it a new name like I do "City Lights", then its new to me. What do you call it? I'm curious.
Squaring the Quilt - getting it ready for the binding.
Attaching binding, getting ready for turning binding and hand stitching 4 hours!
My go-to sewing machine isn't fancy or expensive. Not a problem for me. It's a Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 and it gives me the piecing accuracy I need to build queen size quilts.
Building the first row
Often I use the quilt frame as my design wall. Assembling rows as I build each block, making sure I get a good mix of color combinations, and avoid repeats.
My Sewing Space: 2.5" strip sets laid out, to randomly piece 16 patch centers for the star blocks, and the leftover strip sets become the City Lights Sashing.
Making this quilt was a challenge and a lot of fun! Carving up medical scrubs to make a quilt increased cutting prep time by 3; single cuts all the way. Whew!
In the background, I hear music. It's Donna Sommers singing, "She works hard for the money, so hard for it honey . . . "