Pixel play: 15 quilt projects for kids, family & home

84 Pages·2012·96.295 MB·English

by  Cier, Emily

CRAFTS/Quilting
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Pixelate your patchwork…one strip at a time ly

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n Kids of all ages (and grown-ups too) Made with
1½”
will love these quilts for the crib, the
P I X E L
Strips
bed, or just for snuggling
n Easy to cut and sew in strips with handy
cutting guides and Kona color charts
p l a y
n Designs include a fish bowl, flower
gardens, a treasure map, and even an
aerial view of the town center

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15 Quilt Projects
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I for Kids, Family & Home
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10815 US $21.95 B
ISBN 978-1-60705-358-3 L
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52195 S
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9 781607 053583
Also available as an eBook
emily cier
P I X E L
p l a y
15 Quilt Projects
for Kids, Family & Home
Text and Artwork copyright © 2012 by Emily Cier
Photography and Artwork copyright © 2012 by C&T Publishing, Inc.
Publisher: Amy Marson
Creative Director: Gailen Runge
Art Director: Kristy Zacharias
Editor: Liz Aneloski
Technical Editor: Ann Haley
Cover/Book Designer: April Mostek
Production Coordinator: Jenny Davis
Production Editor: Alice Mace Nakanishi
Illustrator: Emily Cier
Photography by Christina Carty-Francis and Diane Pedersen of C&T Publishing, Inc.,
unless otherwise noted
Published by C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be
used in any form or reproduced by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval
systems—without written permission from the publisher. The copyrights on
individual artworks are retained by the artists as noted in Pixel Play. These designs
may be used to make items only for personal use or donation to nonprofit groups
for sale or for display only at events, provided the following credit is included on a
conspicuous label: Designs copyright © 2012 by Emily Cier from the book Pixel Play
from C&T Publishing, Inc. Permission for all other purposes must be requested in
writing from C&T Publishing, Inc.
Attention Copy Shops: Please note the following exception—publisher and author
give permission to photocopy pages 34 and 61 for personal use only.
Attention Teachers: C&T Publishing, Inc., encourages you to use this book as a text
for teaching. Contact us at 800-284-1114 or www.ctpub.com for lesson plans and
information about the C&T Creative Troupe.
We take great care to ensure that the information included in our products is
accurate and presented in good faith, but no warranty is provided nor are results
guaranteed. Having no control over the choices of materials or procedures used,
neither the author nor C&T Publishing, Inc., shall have any liability to any person
or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the
information contained in this book. For your convenience, we post an up-to-date
listing of corrections on our website (www.ctpub.com). If a correction is not already
noted, please contact our customer service department at [email protected] or at
P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549.
Trademark (™) and registered trademark (®) names are used throughout this book.
Rather than use the symbols with every occurrence of a trademark or registered
trademark name, we are using the names only in the editorial fashion and to the
benefit of the owner, with no intention of infringement.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cier, Emily.
Pixel play : 15 quilt projects for kids, family & home / Emily Cier.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-60705-358-3 (soft cover)
1. Patchwork--Patterns. 2. Quilting--Patterns. 3. Patchwork quilts. I. Title.
TT835.C4984 2012
746.46--dc23
2011052456
Printed in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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dedication
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For Maeve and Liam A e
My 24-bit inspirations for these 8-bit quilts. C l
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D
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D n
k
acknowledgments c
a
Sean
For being there for me through every step of the way.
You are truly the most quilt-literate software engineer 03
who has never sewn a quilt.
Maeve and Liam
For oohing and aahing at all of Mommy’s creations.
The love you have for all your quilts makes my heart melt.
To you two, everything that is a pixel is a quilt, and all quilts
are made of pixels.
Everyone at C&T Publishing
Especially Amy, Gailen, Susanne, Liz, Ann, April, Jenny, and Alice—
for giving me the opportunity to write yet another book.
Robert Kaufman Fabrics
For providing box after box of glorious Kona Cotton for the quilts.
Cathy Kirk
For your impeccable quilting.
P3K
Without you, I’d have a lot more gray hair.
CONTENTS
5 INTRODUCTION
6 ONE STRIP AT A TIME: a pixel quilting primer
Y 16 CRIB fishbowl
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20 CRIB dithered

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24 CRIB deception cove
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28 CRIB ambrosia
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32 CRIB pixelville
36 THROW alki
40 THROW americana
44 THROW snowflakes
48 THROW zinnia
52 THROW clematis
56 TWIN deception cove
60 TWIN pixelville
64 TWIN ambrosia
68 TWIN fishbowl
74 TWIN dithered
79 RESOURCES
79 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INTRODUCTION
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My kids love all the quilts I make, but never as much as when they know that the quilt I’m
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working on is for them. They go so far as to request their favorite character or obsession of T
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the month—my son’s first and biggest gift request each birthday and holiday is for a new U
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cartoon quilt, and it’s difficult to even find my daughter’s bed under all her princess quilts
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and flower pillows.
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Sure, they like abstract and geometric patterns, bright new color schemes, and fun shapes. N
But nothing brings delight to kids’ eyes like a scene they can recognize and relate to—and I
yes, obsess over—crafted into their very own quilt.
05
To this end, I’ve learned that the pixel technique is my best friend when it comes to quilts for
my family. It’s the perfect marriage of simplicity and flexibility. Countless millions of different
shapes and scenes can be built from simple strips and squares, yet require sewing only
straight lines.
There’s something about the impressionistic look of a few dozen squares suddenly resolving
into a complete scene that makes me just want to stare at a pixel quilt and smile. I hope
these quilts have the same effect on you and your family!
Cier Cier
mily mily
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by by
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ONE STRIP AT A TIME:
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a pixel quilting primer
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, ,
fabric thread and supplies
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The quilts in Pixel Play use Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton Solids (sold in quilt shops
and online). The exact color used for each fabric is noted in the yardage charts.
06
Can I use different Kona colors from those listed?
What about fabrics from a different manufacturer?
Certainly! I’ve loved Kona Cottons since I began quilting, so they are always my
go-to fabrics when making quilts from solids. Many other beautiful solids are available,
so feel free to experiment. I do advise picking out all the colors and evaluating the
entire palette together before finalizing alternate Kona colors or those from another
manufacturer. Having the wrong shade of just one color can throw off the entire
palette of the quilt.
A lot of different fabrics are used.
Can I reduce the number of colors?
Not really. I’ve reduced the number of colors as much as possible. The goal is to allow
details to show, while not using every color manufactured.
Can I use a completely
different palette? r
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Of course! I’ve included alternative : m
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palettes for five of the projects: M i
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Fishbowl Crib (page 19); Dithered Crib TI p
(page 23); Snowflakes Throw (page 47); A g
Fishbowl Twin (page 73); and Dithered T n
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Twin (page 78). t
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You can also start from scratch and pick RI u
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your own palette. Start with a color that
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catches your eye and build from there. E el
I cut up a Kona Cotton Solids color card N x
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(available online) into little color chips p

to help with this. You can use the Kona a
chips in conjunction with the Ultimate
3-in-1 Color Tool and Studio Color Wheel
07
(both by C&T Publishing) to help build
alternative palettes for these quilts or any
other projects that use solids.
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Fishbowl Twin (pages 68 and 73), shown in both color palettes
Can I use prints? 2. For each color, cut the number of 11/2˝ × WOF
strips listed in the First cut section of each
Prints probably aren’t the best choice for these
cutting chart.
quilts. There’s just too much contrast within
the fabric to form a coherent pixel quilt. The
exception would be textured solids, which d.
ol 1½˝
would work fine. F
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Should I use a certain thread?
A
L 3. In the Second cut section, start by taking a
I use a cotton 50-weight thread. Thin thread is
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strip from the previous step and subcut. Start
essential for this technique because the large
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with the longest subcut; then cut the longest
E number of seams will build up even more bulk
X with thick thread. remaining subcut possible from the leftover
I portion until the strip is too small to be useful.
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Do I need any additional supplies?
You don’t need anything special to make pixel
08
quilts beyond your basic quilting supplies. The 4. Continue with the remaining strips until all
following are some basic tools I find handy: subcuts for that fabric have been made.
„ 24˝ × 36˝ cutting mat 5. Repeat Steps 2–4 with the remaining colors.
„ Rotary cutter and extra blades: If you can’t Cutting Notes
remember the last time you replaced your
„ All cuts assume that the fabric is at least
blade or if you find yourself sawing through
40˝ wide. The cutting instructions include one
fabric, it’s (past) time to replace your blade.
extra strip, and the yardage requirements include
„ 6˝ × 24˝ cutting ruler: For cutting the long enough for a couple extra strips in case of a
width-of-fabric (WOF) strips cutting error.
„ 41/2˝ square cutting ruler: For cutting the „ For strips longer than 40˝ wide, sew two WOF
smaller squares from the WOF strips. This strips together end-to-end and then subcut,
ruler is large enough to get a secure grip but starting with the longest pieces.
small enough that it’s not unwieldy to use.
„ It’s best to cut all of the pieces for the quilt
„ Water-soluble pen: This can come in handy before you start sewing. It’s no fun to get to row 5
for some of the quilting options (page 12). I and realize you need to cut more fabric.
keep two pens around: blue for light-colored
„ To keep your fabrics organized, stack all the
fabrics and white for dark-colored fabrics.
pieces from a single color in a pile with the largest
pieces on the bottom.
STEP 1:
cutting
„ Line up the piles in alphabetical order next to
1. Iron all fabrics. I prefer not to prewash my your sewing machine.
fabrics because I feel that the small pieces keep
„ Place a piece of paper with the color letter next
their shapes better when they have not been
to each stack of fabrics for easy referencing when
washed, but it’s up to you. Please note that
piecing. This is especially helpful when there are
the fabric yardage requirements given for each
multiple shades of a single color.
project do not allow for significant shrinkage due
to prewashing.
Strip Assembly Notes
STEP 2:

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„ A 1/4˝ seam allowance is used for all seams in
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strip assembly all of the projects. It’s a good idea to do a test : m
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seam before you begin sewing to check that M
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Chain piecing is the simplest way to sew the r
your 1/4˝ seam is accurate. Accuracy is the key I
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strips.
to successful piecing and making sure that the A g
1. Following the quilt assembly diagram, pixels stay horizontally and vertically aligned. T n
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sew Piece 1 to Piece 2, Piece 3 to Piece 4, i
„ Only the cut widths are shown in the diagrams P lt
Piece 5 to Piece 6, and so on. i
for clarity purposes. Heights are not given because RI u
Piece 3 all strips are cut 11/2˝ high. T q
Piece 7 S
Piece 1 Piece 5
Piece 4 Piece 6 l
Piece 2 Piece 8 „ When no width is given, use a 11/2˝-wide piece. E e
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A B: 2½˝ A C: 2½˝ A: 13½˝ D: 2½˝ A B: 3½˝ O i
A: 3½˝ C:˝2½˝ A: 13½˝ D: 2½˝A: 2½˝ B: 3½˝ „ You do not need to backstitch when assembling p
AA: :2 3½½˝˝C: 5C½: 2˝½˝ A: 12½˝A: 7½˝ D: 4½˝ D: 2½A˝AB: :2 5½½˝˝B: 3½˝ EE the strips. Seamlines will be crossed by another a
seam, which will anchor them.
Piece 3 Piece 4 Piece 7 „ Keep a ruler handy to double-check the length 09
of the pieces as you use them. While it’s easy
Piece 1
Piece 8
to differentiate a 11/2˝ piece from a 21/2˝ piece by
simply looking at it, it’s not quite as easy when
Piece 2
you’re trying to find the 221/2˝ piece instead of
Piece 5 the 231/2˝ piece. It’s easier to double-check the
Piece 6
measurement now rather than having to rip apart
an entire strip during Step 3: Quilt Top Assembly
(page 10).
„ Use a blank piece of paper to help keep your
place in the pattern diagram and underline the
strip you are working on. Hold the paper in place
with a small rotary cutting ruler or scissors.
„ If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the chain
2. Snip the thread between each unit. piecing at any point, set out all of the pieces for
the strip in the proper order. This will help keep
3. Continue chain piecing by sewing Unit 1/2 to
your place in the strip while sewing.
Unit 3/4, Unit 5/6 to Unit 7/8, and so on.
4. Snip and continue to sew units together until „ Pin a small piece of paper with the number of
the strip if you need help keeping track of the
you have completed the entire strip.
order of the strips.
„ If you need extra workspace at any point in the
piecing, lower your ironing board to table height
5. Set the strip aside until all the strips for that
and set it next to your sewing machine. You can
section are complete and then continue with
also store extra strips folded up on baking sheets.
Step 3: Quilt Top Assembly (page 10).