The Making of Quilting Queen - Part 1.

Last fall TAODA had an exhibit titled “Block Party” at the International Quilt Festival in Houston.  The idea was to use a quilt block somewhere in the doll.  I immediately thought of a ‘quilting lady’ proudly wearing her creation.  I thought she should be dressed in a garment using multiple quilt blocks and that’s when the “Quilting Queen” idea was born.  Now, I am not a quilter so this was definitely a challenge.

I found lots of help on the internet.  I decided I should use a technique called paper piecing, which made working with these small pieces of fabric do-able.

The first block I chose was log cabin because I read it was the easiest one to begin with.

sewing from the back

log cabin in progress

I made 32 of these and they formed the bottom tier of her skirt.

The next block I chose was spools.  Another 32 of these will form the top tier of her skirt.

         you can see my queenly inspiration on the bottom right :-)

The middle tier of her skirt:  32 pineapple blocks

quilting "in the ditch"

Her sleeves consist of fan and Roman square blocks.  There are 44 blocks in the sleeves.

It's coming together:

Her bodice is a single floral appliqué block.

Every queen needs a mantle, right?  Her mantle is 76 blocks of Ohio star (24 star, 52 plain).

And the finished mantle:

In total, there are 165 patterned blocks in the Quilting Queen's ensemble.  In the words of a popular song: Does that make me crazy?  Possibly…..  ;-)

Next week I'll post photos of the little details that finish the piece.