Oh, Fransson!

Space Invaders Quilt: Invaders 5 and 6

This is a quilt that I'm making for my nephew, my previous posts are here, here and here.

I'm seriously giddy about the way these all look together. Invaders 5 and 6 really tie the quilt together.

Invaders 5 and 6 are made with the chartreuse fabrics, including Timeless Treasures Screen Texture, stripe from Red Letter Day by Lizzy House for Andover, Party Dress print by Mo Bedell for Blue Hill, Mingle print by Monaluna for Robert Kaufman, and Kona Chartreuse.

Here's the Invader 5 block.

And here's the Invader 6 block.

Now I just have to make several of each of these!

Space Invaders Quilt: Invaders 3 and 4

This is a quilt that I'm making for my nephew, my previous posts are here and here.

Two more invaders are joining the quilt today. Please say hello to Invader 3 (pictured above) and Invader 4.

Invaders 3 and 4 are made with a crosshatch print from Michael Miller's Mini Mikes collection, a large dot from Circa 60 by Monaluna for Birch Fabrics, a dot from Lecien Color Basics, a stripe from Red Letter Day by Lizzy House for Andover, and Kona Aloe. The background fabric is Kona Pepper.

Here's Invader 4!

Space Invaders Quilt: Invaders 1 and 2

This is a quilt that I'm making for my nephew, my previous post is here.

As I was piecing these first two blocks, the reality of how long it was going to take to piece an entire twin-sized quilt from 2" squares (1.5" finished) hit me. It's going to take a while!

I should mention that I'm using a bunch of tiny squares (instead of blocking together similarly-colored areas) because I think it looks better. To me, the grid/pixelated background just isn't the same unless it's truly made from only little squares. I contemplated piecing these guys like this, but I've found that method works better with sashing between the blocks, like on this quilt.

Invaders 1 and 2 are made with a print from Good Folks by Anna Maria Horner for Free Spirit, Kei Honeycomb Dots, Timeless Treasures Screen Texture, Party Dress print by Mo Bedell for Blue Hill, and Kona Turquoise. The background fabric is Kona Pepper.

The finished quilt will have several of each type of invader. For each of the Invader 1 blocks, the basic layout will look like this, but the placement of the scattered print squares will be different.

And here's the first Invader 2 block. 

Just need to make several more of each of these!

Space Invaders Quilt: The Plan

My nephew Elliot turned six this year and the bed quilt he's using now has started to look a little juvenile to me. I asked Elliot whether he wanted a new quilt and, if so, what he wanted it to look like. His response was "black, like Batman." I know that Batman fabric is something that I could probably buy, but it's a) not my style and b) something I doubt my sister wants in her house either. I also think it's likely that Elliot doesn't remember what he told me, so I'm not too concerned about my decision to take the quilt in a different direction!

I already had a piece of this Timeless Treasures print that I found at Cool Cottons and I decided to use it. I kept calling the little guys on the print "robots" or "aliens," but my husband was adamant that they were actually Space Invaders. Clearly, I know nothing about video games. Except Ms. Pacman. I could beat you all at Ms. Pacman, most especially if we were playing on a Commodore 64.

I played around with a couple of different ideas before I determined that I didn't actually want to use any of the print on the front of the quilt. Instead, I decided to play with the pixelated look of the print and make the quilt top into a super-enlarged version of the fabric. I started by sketching out each of the Space Invaders on graph paper.

Then, I found Kona solids that matched the colors of the print (which I plan to use on the quilt back). The winners were Turquoise, Chartreuse and Aloe. I cut a bunch of 2" squares from each, as well as some squares of coordinating monochromatic print fabrics. My concept is to use just a few print pieces in each invader, giving the quilt a pixelated, but still patchworky vibe.

I've mentioned before that I really don't like to use solid black fabric as a background fabric. It's just not a look that I like. I needed something "almost black" though, so I decided to use Kona Pepper. The photo above is of some of the 1,600 little squares I cut from the Pepper fabric.

Now I need to get down to piecing!