Last June, I was contacted by Valerie Prideaux of Quilts at the Creek to ask if I would like to participate in their Map Your World challenge. Valerie is posting one quilt a month on the blog, and the map quilts will be on display at the show in July.
So I’ve been thinking about map quilts for the past few months, and decided to base my quilt on a map of my city, New Westminster BC. The city’s location on the banks of the Fraser River and the diagonal street grid make for a visually interesting map. I’m attracted to bright colors on dark backgrounds, and have long been a fan of the stylized look of transit maps.
I thought about using a black solid background, but decided it would be more interesting to use a scrappy background of various black and dark gray prints (which I happen to have a lot of in my stash). I used gray bias tape to indicate the major roads.
Here are some progress photos as my map evolved. I drew a full-size map on freezer paper showing the major roads, then cut up the freezer paper and used it as templates for the background fabrics. I pinned it all to my design wall, then sewed the background pieces together. Then I positioned and sewed the gray bias tape.
Then it was time for the fun part – adding the colorful bias tape to indicate bus routes and transit lines.
Today, I layered and basted it. I was a little concerned that it wouldn’t lie flat because the bias tape had shrunk slightly in a few places, causing the background fabric to pucker. But after I spray-basted it, smoothed it out, pressed it and pressed it again, it’s pretty flat.
I’m going to quilt it with vertical lines, and possibly also horizontal lines. I’m trying to come up with a good title – something like ‘How to Get from A to B’ or maybe just ‘Transit Map’. Suggestions for titles are very welcome.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
- Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
- Em’s Scrap Bag Moving It Forward Monday
- Love Laugh Quilt Monday Making
Getting Around My Town. Transit Choices, Which One Should I Take? My Corner Of The World.
This looks great Terry.
All great titles. Thanks, Sandi.
“Quilting New Lines”…inspired by this Scientific American article…https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/painting-new-lines-maximizing-color-difference-in-metro-maps/
Heidi, thanks for the link to avery interest article. The scientific method of differentiating colors is very different than my method. I tend to make color decisions visually, based on what appeals to me, and using a black & white filter to ensure there are sufficient value differences.
I am enamored of the bias tape technique you use, but wonder how you deal with starts/stops that aren’t at the quilt edge. Can you always tuck an end under another tape?
I tried to apply the bias tape in an order that allowed me to tuck the ends under another tape or the circles that represent the transit stations. There were a few places where I had to un-stitch a tape edge, slip the raw end under, then re-stitch. There are only a couple of places where that didn’t work.
Looks Great Terry. Colour Ways is the only title I could up with !
Thanks, Anne. That’s a good title!
Terrific piece, Terry! Now a question: do all the streets/transit lines lead somewhere? Or do you have a “you can’t get there from here” that could be impetus for a title? 😉 Looking forward to seeing the finished piece!
Thanks, Margaret. All the streets do lead somewhere. But maybe a title like ‘You CAN get there from here”!
I seem to be into using song references in my quilt titles lately. How ’bout “Life is a Highway”? Or, “you take the high road and I’ll take the low road”. Or, in honor of Michelle Obama, just “Take the High Road”.