Note To Self: There Are No Magical Border Elves Who Finish Quilts While You Are Sleeping

Oh my gosh, y'all -- I would so much rather be making blocks for a new quilt rather than putting seven borders on this WIP (Work In Progress) project that I've been puttering around with for the past six(!) years!  When I came up with this bright idea of Mork's rainbow suspenders for a quilt border, I was only thinking about how cool it would look and not thinking at all about actually having to go to all of this bother at the tail end of the project when I just want to be DONE with it already!  I procrastinated cutting the border strips after I cut the black inner border a couple months ago -- swiftly remembering how much I hate cutting long lengthwise strips for a big bed quilt.  Well, I finally cut them all and have been piecing them together and attaching them to my Retro '80s Building Blocks sampler.  This is where I left off last night, with only the final purple border strips waiting to be attached:

Only One More Border to Go!

First, I'd joined the Kona Lipstick and Kona Black borders together, pressing the seam allowance towards the black on the top and bottom strips and towards the red on the left and right side strips.  That way, the seams nested and locked together nicely when I mitered the red+black border corners.

Trying to Keep Organized...

Then the next four colors were strip pieced together to apply as a single border: Kona Tangerine, Kona Grellow, Kona Peridot, and Kona Ocean.  

Quilted Doors: Four of my Favorites from Four Different Artists

So I was thinking some more about my Parisian door quilt concept, and I wondered how other quiltmakers had used doors in their quilting.  I decided a bit of research was called for, and a quick "door quilt images" google search turned up plenty of pieced quilts with Barn Door block designs, as well as this beauty:

Kathy Schmitz, Kathy Schmitz Studio

I love how Kathy's fabric selections created the illusion of depth for the threshold.  It looks like she highlighted the "corners" of these bricks as well; maybe painting on a little bleach?  This was the most realistic quilted door I came across, and it's the most like what I initially had in mind for my Parisian doors.

This next example is just one quilt block (paper-pieced?), but I was really excited to find a photo of the door that inspired the quiltmaker as well as the photo of the finished block:

Mid Century Modern Door quilt block for Lisa by verykerryberry

Isn't that adorable?  You can find verykerryberry's sewing blog here.  This is the photo that inspired her quilt block:

It was really interesting for me to see which elements of the door/photo she chose to incorporate into her block design, and which elements she decided to leave out.  I was also impressed by the level of detail she was able to reproduce through her meticulous piecing.  I had assumed that applique plus embroidery would be required for my quilted doors.  I also love how verykerryberry used artistic license to take this dilapidated old door back to a happier time and place, evoking a completely different mood than the inspiration photo. 

This next small quilt, made by Allison Aller and featured in the Renaissance Ribbons blog here, incorporates a technique that allows a photograph to be printed directly onto fabric, which was then embroidered and embellished. 

Barbara's Door, 14" x 18" by Allison Aller

I love the way Allison "framed" her quilt with jacquard ribbon; I haven't seen that before.  I hadn't considered using my Parisian door photos for fabric printing, but that is a technique that I'd like to try at some point, perhaps with family photos.  You can see more of this artist's work on her blog, Allie's In Stitches.

Finally, take a look at this artist's take on the quilted door theme:

Tunisian Door, 106 cm x 140 cm, by Margaret Ramsay

I love the rich blues and greens and the visual texture of this quilt.  This quiltmaker and textile artist blogs at magsramsay and has a web site here. 

Isn't it great to be able to pull up so much inspiration with just an internet connection and a few clicks of the mouse?  Every day is a quilting show-and-tell on the Internet, and you don't even have to get dressed to attend!  I was actually surprised that I didn't find more door quilts out there.  I still think I want to incorporate different doors into my quilt, each its own rectangular block, maybe with different sizes for different doors, and use borders and sashing to unify the blocks.

My Parisian door quilt is going to have to hang out on the way-back burner for awhile, though, because I've been promising Lars a dragon quilt for years -- literally!  Lars's quilt is up next.

Portes à Paris: Doorways to Paris

When I stayed in the Latin Quarter of Paris in January 2010 and again a few weeks ago, I was fascinated by old doors like these:

I took so many pictures of entrance doors and gates; I wonder what I will do with all of them?  I love the dark cherry red color of the doors pictured above.

Front Doors to Notre Dame Cathedral

An Interior Door in Notre Dame Cathedral



One of many secondary entrances to the Louvre

Door of our Hotel Room

Interior Doors at Versailles

Versailles

Versailles

Interior Doors at the Louvre, "N" for Henry of Navarre, a.k.a. Henry IV

I can envision a quilt with each block a different doorway.  It would be a combination of patchwork , applique and embroidery to recreate all of these doors.  The paneling and carved woodworking would be quilted in, the ironwork would be embroidered in black thread...  I hope I have enough time someday to make all of the quilts that are in my head!

What else could I do with my doorways?