My dad's birthday quilt ("Okay, computer"?)

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    When I was finishing up my Habitat quilt, I got to thinking about how I've never made a quilt for my dad before. I think maybe one reason I never have is because he's completely disinterested in things visual or decorative (he jokes about being colour-blind, for instance).

    But he's a serious computer geek (PC all the way, for him), and when faced with the challenge of designing a quilt for him, I think that piecing a computer desktop was my only option (uh, yes, that's what it is!). I sketched out the icons and bottom bar in InDesign and started cutting.

    The top came together really quickly, although when it came time to join the blue part with the grey bar, the right-hand side looked way too empty. So that's what the "Hi" is doing there! Must've been the influence of the Oh, Fransson! Billboard Quilt-Along.

    I really enjoyed using some of my most beloved fabrics for fussy-cutting the icons, and I also really enjoyed ordering some Suzuko Koseki yardage from Superbuzzy for the back:) He probably won't give it a second thought, but they're prints that remind me especially of my dad. For the binding, I picked two prints that seemed especially computer-ish to me: the little grey rectangle print from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope and the black stippling print from Greenfield Hill. Oh, and the dense straight-line quilting took AGES! Never again, I say:)

    bananaphone / Robin, and 21 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    1. A Little Gray 21 months ago | reply

      this is just so damn cool. so cool.

    2. A Little Gray 21 months ago | reply

      (except of course, it would be cooler if it were Mac!)

    3. _name_taken_ 21 months ago | reply

      Thanks so much! I do feel a bit weird about this quilt now, what with Steve Jobs passing away...I don't know how often quilters look back on their work in light of current events!:) A Mac quilt would definitely be cool, and probably even easier -- just the row of icons centered at the very bottom, and some purple batik yardage for that default starry sky background!

    4. bananaphone / Robin 21 months ago | reply

      i love this so much. it's such a creative design, and also a great way to justify collecting all those text fabrics! i imagine the straight line quilting was tedious to do, but it looks wonderful too! :)

    5. NancyinSTL 21 months ago | reply

      Awesomely creative! Viewing from my iPad

    6. Fittin to Quilt 21 months ago | reply

      I love how cool this is!!

    7. Krousegirl2 21 months ago | reply

      oh good gravy Carmen, this is so cool. You have me thinking about making my dad a quilt now! ill have to think on that for a while....good gravy, i bet that quilting did take a long time, worth it in the end, looks amazing!
      what size did the quilt finish at?

    8. KGsearch 21 months ago | reply

      Very clever...love the colors.

    9. nettaquilts 21 months ago | reply

      yes, very clever! great design and love ALL the little touches.

    10. gomarquette92 21 months ago | reply

      This is very cool. I love it!

    11. _name_taken_ 21 months ago | reply

      Thanks so much, everyone!

      Unfortunately I just swapped and got a few text prints that would have worked a lot better, but oh well! I fussy-cut a few, but I don't think I would have had enough to effectively fussy-cut them all.
      Something like 70" wide by 60" high? I love the look and I think it's worth it too, but it was just mindless for, like, four days:)

    12. quirky granola girl 21 months ago | reply

      this is mind blowing. so creative and so beautiful.

    13. Lorena in Sydney 21 months ago | reply

      love it and I think you've just given me an idea for a quilt for my computer obsessed son :-)

    14. jessyroos 21 months ago | reply

      This quilt is incredible and such a special gift to give!

    15. courtiepie 21 months ago | reply

      what a great idea!

    16. goddessinprogress 21 months ago | reply

      Awesome awesome quilt! Mentally bookmarking this to make something similar for my husband someday.

    17. Frecklemama 21 months ago | reply

      seriously genious. well done.

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