The Making of a Car and Truck Whole Cloth Quilt

Car and truck whole cloth quilt
Horizontal composition
Good Morning, Quilters!

Today, let’s look at a car and truck whole cloth quilt.

I stitched this mini-quilt for one of my favorite boys ever–my grandson, Henry!

 

Start with a Composition

I started with a simple composition.  I divided the quilt into horizontal rows. To make it more interesting and more road like, I used unevenly spaced, wavy lines.

(We will review horizontal compositions tomorrow here at LKQ.)

Choose a Few Motifs

Next, I chose a few motifs to create a scene.

I chose cars and trucks. (See Henry’s truck tutorial HERE)

Retro Car tutorial HERE

To complete the scene, I added a Houses and Trees.

Home Sweet Home tutorial here

Tree tutorial HERE

Choose Two Threads and Quilt!

I used two threads for this quilt: one for the focus motifs and one for the background fill design.

To create focus motifs, I used Sulky, 40 wt Rayon thread.

Because it is heavy weight thread in a contrasting color, the trees, houses, trucks and cars popped! I stitched all of the focus motifs first.

In the background swirls, I used King Tut cotton thread.  King Tut (Superior Threads) is heavy weight (40 wt) thread which normally I reserve for focus motifs. However, in this case, I used blue King Tut to match the background fabric and create a textured background effect.

Personalize!

I filled in the trucks and street signs with personal details.

Adding handwritten notes s makes quilting more fun for the quilter and the recipient!

Have Fun Quilting!

At the risk of sounding like a  broken record….

(Does anyone under 45 even know–really know–what that expression means!?! LOL)

When YOU have fun quilting, your quilts will be more fun!

What about YOU?

Who will receive YOUR next quilt?

Have YOU ever tried making a whole cloth quilt?

What motifs are fun for YOU to quilt?

We’d LOVE to hear!

Your Quilting Chauffeur,

Leadfoot Lori

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PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only.  Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ.  For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com.  Thanks!

 

 

25 responses to “The Making of a Car and Truck Whole Cloth Quilt”

      1. Eureka ! Finally, a great name for the small quilts for kids.. Toddler Tag-A-Long Quilt.. Better copyright that phrase, Lori. I see another book. I have made a bunch of these over time, and always said,
        “You know, a little quilt to be dragged around ! ” However, now the challenge is on.. I only quilted something cute around their edges.
        You have raised the bar!! Fun coming up!!

  6. It is so cute for a little boy, he will treasure it for ever, really special.

  7. One of my favorites you have ever shown us. You really made a treasure for Henry.

  9. That is the cutest quilt I have seen in a long time if not ever! And the best part, no piecing!

  10. That IS a cute quilt! I’m sure Henry AND parents are enjoying it and discovering all the fun things you’ve stitched into it. To address your questions, I have made one whole cloth quilt as part of a series I did. It was pretty detailed. I liked how it turned out a lot however I’m not sure I’ll be doing another one soon LOL As for who gets my next quilt(s), during this confinement period I’ve finished 8 UFO’s lap quilt sized and bigger that are now destined for charities designated by my guild. I also finished early my annual 6 Quilts of Valor obviously destined for veterans which I historically have presented in September. I also made a lap quilt intended for my Mom for Mother’s Day but she didn’t make it until then, passing on April 29. I don’t know who will get that one .. if anyone. Thanks for continuing to inspire.

    1. My condolences to you – I lost my mother 20 years ago and still miss her. Words are truly useless but I send you my best anyway.

      1. thank you Suzanne. Our Mother’s are special and no matter how much time we have to prepare, we are never ready to lose them. We wanted to keep her forever but she was ready to be pain free and to finally meet Jesus. Hugs

  11. Your Broken Record comment got me thinking. Have you played around with any music motifs (i.e. quarter-notes, half-notes,bass and treble clefs, etc.)? Could be really interesting…just a thought! Keep up the inspiration, I really look forward to your posts!

  12. What? Henry doodles?? Wow! ..you are bringing up grands right!! Quilt is a legacy quilt for sure, love it !

  13. Henry is as blessed with as you are with him. We have four ‘Grands’ ,14 to 5. They re our inspiration and hope. Lots of quilt history here. Enjoy.

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