Day 8

The next step is to applique the 12 Ford GT graphics onto the 12 white quilt squares. This is actually a multi-step process (and I have a very busy week) but I will try to make at least some progress each day.

Before appliqueing, I first had to cut out the graphics. Because there is more than one car on each fabric sheet, I cut the fabric sheet so that each graphic was by itself.

This way, while cutting out the graphics, I did not have to worry about accidentally cutting into another car. I cut the border cars that I had as well, since this will need to be done to them later on. (When the second batch arrives, I will do the same with those.)

Then, just like I did with the squares, I used the fabric pen to mark an outline of where to cut. With the graphics, it is a little bit more complicated than with the squares, because there are a LOT of curves. I needed to leave 1/4" around the entire edge of the Ford GT graphics when I cut. In order to do this, I used the ruler and marked 1/4" at different points around each of the graphics.

I then drew the outline by connecting the dots:

One thing I noticed is that some of the areas (such as the mirrors) will need to be less than 1/4". I will cut those special areas down further when I am getting ready to use the webbing. I also am not sure about the rear diffuser on the black GT. It might be too thin to applique, because I have nowhere to tuck under the extra fabric for the seam. If that is the case, I will either end up cutting it out or just leaving the area alone as it is almost as white as the square...

After drawing the outline 1/4" from the edge, I used the scissors to cut out the car.

Since there are 3 of each kind of car, rather than take the time to re-measure each one, I only measured and outlined one of each kind of car. To line it up correctly, I did have to take at least 15 measurements around each car, but it was still quicker than having to do all of the points each time. Then, once the first car of the group was cut out, I traced it around the other 2 cars of the same kind, lining up the measurements, and then cut them out. Here is what each of the 4 center cars look like with the 1/4" seam allowance:

Once all 12 of the cars for the white center squares were cut out, I wet the sponge and dabbed it over the blue ink so it would disappear as it did when cutting the white squares.. I had already washed the material, so I did not have to worry about the water causing the color to bleed. However, I'm not sure why (since it is the same material), but this time when I dabbed the web sponge over the pen markings, the markings did NOT disappear like they had previously! :-( Some of the color dimmed and disappeared after a few minutes after I let the web fabric sit for a bit, but I even tried rubbing the markings out and that did not work. The ink should now show either way, because the part that is marked will be tucked underneath, but I find it curious nonetheless... Perhaps the pen works best when new, and once it's been used a bit, it loses its ability to disappear.

And even though I only have the red, white, and blue border cars (5 of each), I did the same thing to those. Because I had used a blue background rather than a white background, it was very difficult to measure the 1/4" - especially on the blue cars! If I could do it again, I would use a white background. The reason I used a blue background was in case some of the background was left showing, it would then blend in with the quilt's background. The good thing with having the background is that it was easy to line up the border car that I already cut, which was then used to trace over the other border cars - no further measurements had to be taken. And it really is not a bad thing, because when tucked underneath, the color will face the batting (stuffing that makes the quilt soft, fluffy, and warm) and shouldn't show through.

And now, after many hours of measuring, marking, tracing, and cutting, I am finished! :-) This is what a few of the cut pieces look like:

This part took a lot of time and a LOT of patience!!! I was watching TV while doing it to keep from going crazy. Without TV, there is no way I would have been able to do these all in one sitting!