quilt of life

 

it's november, which for me means family, and reminiscing and family. so to celebrate, i created the "quilt of life". i'm very fortunate to have a mom who loves genealogy, and so our family has a wealth of photos dating back to the 1800s. six generations are on this quilt!

i used papers from our "free bird" series, grabbing and mixing and matching to create the quilt. to get a softer, more fabric-like effect, i dipped each piece in warm water and crunched it into a ball. then i opened them up and let them dry flat. because the paper is so thick it can take the abuse, and the end result is a softly rumpled look.

while the paper was drying, i printed out the photos on canvas. you can buy ink jet canvas at your local office supply store. i converted the photos to sepia tones, for a more antique look.

once the papers were dry, i tacked down the photos and other papers with a bit of adhesive, and then sewed each 6x6 panel - stitching the photos and paper trims onto the squares, and adding extra stitching for accents. then i sewed the squares into rows and stitched the rows together into the quilt.

final touches meant treating each square like a tiny page layout. i used authentique elements as well as lots of trinkets from my stash of random elements. i also used some bottle cap charms i've been experimenting with.

i hope this provides you with lots of inspiration. keep stopping by for more as the holiday season unfolds. for more from the gypsy, stop by my caravan!