Angela Bowman

Chloe

“Chloe” quilt, 60″ x 60″, made in July 2019.

This is a quilt I designed from a photo of my daughter Chloe. This photo of her when she was 8 years old was my inspiration. I just love how fair her face is, the contrast of her pretty eyelashes and mouth, and the way the light is bouncing off her face and hair.

I simplified the image and created a digital illustration. What’s really special about this project is that Chloe sat right next to me at my computer and helped make design choices. We opted to add a bit more blue to the piece.

I made foundation paper piecing templates and had them printed on 36″ x 48″ sheets of paper at my local print shop.

I used my fabric swatch magnets to help choose colors, and nabbed the Kona Cotton solids from Sewfinity.

I always sew the largest shapes first. Here’s the design wall progression:

Here’s the quilt back, before I removed all the paper.

Here’s the backside of one of her eyes. For the thread, I used Bottom Line 60 weight in Silver by Superior Threads. This thin, strong polyester thread reduces bulk for an intricate design like this, plus its poly-strength keeps the seams intact while ripping off the paper.

For quilting, I chose a simple diagonal cross hatch using Aurifil 40 weight thread in Dove.

I loved every step of making this quilt. When I’m gone, it will be Chloe’s, and I hope she’ll remember designing it with me.