New Custom Word Quilts For Sale Now! Have a clever Idea? Get a special deal!
For the last month or two we've been experimental with word-quilts like you see here. I've got reasonably robust Mathematica code to automatically construct a stitching pattern for any set of words, and Nina has found a pleasingly simple combination of font and background pattern to focus attention on the words.
So we're ready to see if anyone will buy one....Eventually our intention is to have certain stock designs available at fixed prices, and custom wording available for a higher price. But we need more ideas for clever things to quilt into words, and we've got a quilt show coming up where it would be fun to have some more word-quilts.
So for the next week (April 1-7) if you place an order below for either size of word quilt (Queen or Twin) you'll get a field where you can fill in any words you like for the same price as the stock items will be. The only caveat is that, if you think of something particularly clever, you have to let us keep the quilt until Arpil 12th when the show is over so we can exhibit it. And if you have to agree to let us use your clever saying as a future stock quilt item.
So, what will it be? Cheesy saying? Deeply meaningful sentiment? Happy Birthday Quilter-Bob? If you can write it, we can quilt it (including Chinese and Japanese characters, by the way).
When deciding on what the say, take a look at the examples and take into consideration that the more words you have, the smaller they become. Smaller words are less puffy, so generally the best word-quilts have a small number of words, with a few that can be made to stand out extra-large. (Also, if you happen to like any of these specific examples, don't feel compelled to be original. We'll sell you these designs too!)
After you send in your order, we'll get back to you with a proposed specific design (feel free to suggest line breaks and what to emphasize, or email me at theodore@theodoregray.com in advance if you want to discuss what would look best).
So far the only things I've thought of are silly phrases, but Nina contributed the lovely opening lines of On Children by Kahlil Gibran. Then again, she also contributed the one below.
Here's what one looks like on a bed. With lots of small letters they can be quite thin, but with a small number of large letters, they are thick and puffy (we use 20-oz batting with approximately 1.25" loft).
We can make a quilt out of any set of words you like! We'll even do naughty words, if that's what you want. When you place your order you'll have a chance to specify which words specifically you want. Keep in mind that the fewer words there are, the better they will look: 10-30 words maximum is a good target. "Happy Birthday Bob"? The sky's the limit on quilted word cleverness.
Reverse appliqué letters (which means different color fabric for the letters) is available for an extra charge. (If you know what reverse appliqué is and are willing to do your own cutting out of the letters, you can order at the regular price and ask add a comment that you'd like double fabric so you can cut our your letters: No extra charge for that.)
Include special requests for fabric color or layout in the form you will get on checkout and we'll get back to you if there's any trouble with your choices.
Order here! The order system doesn't say anything about selecting the fabric or thread color, because we have opinions about what looks best, and what we can produce most efficiently. However.... If you also have opinions, and particularly if you are ordering a Queen size quilt (which does not need to be combined with a second one on a single piece of fabric), feel free to email me or include requests for custom colors in the order form. We can't promise anything, but will consult you on the options and happily return your money if we can't come to an agreement on what to make.
Same goes if you have opinions on the font to use. In principle our code can generating the letters in any font available in any computer-compatible format (i.e. anything I can get for a Macintosh), but some look much better than others, for reasons that are not always related to how good the fonts look in print. If you'd like to suggest a specific alternate font, please feel free, and if it seems plausible, we'll send you what the generated design looks like and you can decide whether to have it stitched up.