Tag: maps of France

Progress on the Map of France

Dear Liza,

In search of fabric for my France map quilt, I took the # 75 bus to the #72 to Bolt Fabric the other day. It’s a quick trip, and nice to see new neighborhoods.

Bolt didn’t disappoint! I found the palette I had chosen in solid cottons, which will be good for appliqué-ing and embroidering as the project moves along. I got the fabric home and washed it.


And now I need to decide on the style of the map. The main body will be green, the lower mountains purple, and the peaks of the Alps and Pyrenees will be red. Coastlines will be a soft peach. Am I sure? Maybe.

With my five colors, it will not be a ‘realistic’ map. It will be modern, abstract, more …. stylized. But what style?

I’m wrestling with that, in one of my favorite stages of creation, the “creative problem”.

My goal at this point is to let each stage sit long enough, and look at it often enough, so I don’t get ahead of myself.

So far the only cutting I’ve done is to make the basic green hexagon shape. The rest will come, I’m sure.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Another Map Quilt?

Dear Liza,

You know I love maps, and I love quilts. So, over the years, I’ve made a few quilted maps. When you were little, I made this map of our old neighborhood in Salinas. There are a lot of people and places I love on that map!

And now, being slightly obsessed with France, I am planning a hexagonal shaped quilt. It’s an interesting idea, since the shape of that country is sort of hexagonal, and even is nicknamed “L’Hexagone” because of its six-sided outline.

A few years back I made a folding paper map of France, and it was hexagonal. I really liked it, but didn’t know what to do next. Now I’ve figured it out.

But first, I had to make a good sized hexagonal pattern from newspaper. I don’t want this quilt to be bed sized, but maybe lap-sized. It’s mostly an art project.

I got the length ratios from your Daddy David and the proper angles from Auntie Bridgett, and cut my newspaper pattern 92 cm across, about three feet.

Screenshot

I have chosen my color palette from a website called color palettes.net. This photograph was taken by Svitlana. They aren’t typical map colors, and I like that. Now I need to hunt for these colors in suitable fabrics so I can get started.

I will keep you posted as I go along.

Love,

Grandma Judy