“Patriot” quilt, 59″ x 59″, made in October 2018.

My husband has many different sides. This is his patriotic side. I see a strong United States Navy veteran who navigated the ocean aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. I am thankful for his service.

I started with his recruit portrait.

I scanned it, cropped it, applied digital effects, put it in a grid, and translated for sewing by drawing straight lines. I made foundation paper piecing templates and gave myself the constraint of using only solid fabrics. I used Kona Cotton exclusively.

Here’s a video of my translation process, using the Procreate iPad app:

 

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Doing some #foundationpaperpiecing sewing translation in #procreate #patriotquilt

A post shared by Angela Bowman (@angelabdesign) on Aug 31, 2017 at 7:36pm PDT

When I foundation-paper-piece, it’s usually a creative frenzy that I cannot stop, and this was no exception.

I love the warm colors in this piece. I mean, look at that cheek. I almost smooched it.

Lots of big paper rows to join. Unwieldy, but worth it.

Nice backside, babe.

Now to choose quilting. I went for wavy lines. He served on an aircraft carrier, after all. Again, here’s a video via the Procreate app – it’s so helpful to audition quilting design.

 

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Back to this hunk. Trying to figure out the quilting stitches. #patriotquilt

A post shared by Angela Bowman (@angelabdesign) on Oct 12, 2018 at 3:49pm PDT

I applied a facing (instead of binding) for the first time. I couldn’t bear to put a border on his face.

Here’s the back in Kona Cotton Pepper. The quilting thread is Aurifil Dove in 40wt cotton.

One of my favorite parts of this piece: that jawline shadow.