Quilted silhouettes tutorial

Here it finally is, the Mother's Day (or any day) gift tutorial. You know you want to make one for your mom or yourself!

You'll need a...

5X7 profile head shot of your child
1/2 yard of two color print
1/4 yard of coordinating dark solid
scrap of coordinating light solid (approx. 8X10)
scrap piece of quilt batting (approx 12X14)
coordinating thread
fusible web (such as Pellon Wonder Under or Heat n Bond Lite)
6 ft of 1 1/2" ribbon
optional lightweight fusible interfacing

Ready to get started?



Cut your child out of the photo.



Clean up any stray hairs, cut details (like long hair) and remove most of the chest and shoulder area. It may help to do an image search for silhouettes to get an idea of how you'd like to shape yours.

Before we move on we're going to need a template for an oval. If you don't already have one you can make one really easily in Microsoft Word. Just open it up and insert an oval auto-shape. Enlarge it until it is almost the size of the page (check print preview if needed) and print.



Make sure your silhouette template fits inside your oval. If not, go back and enlarge it until you have something like the photo above.



Lay your cut out photo on top of the paper side of your fusible web the opposite way you want it facing in the final product and trace around it. Cut the fusible web, making sure to leave a border around your traced line. Using the directions on your package iron the fusible web to the back side of your dark fabric. Once it has cooled cut out along your pencil lines.

Repeat the process with your oval template on your light fabric. I added an extra layer of regular fusible interfacing on this step, trying to stop the backing fabric from showing through, but it still did. I'm not sure it made much difference, so I'm putting it as optional. If you do decide to use the fusible interfacing make sure you iron it on BEFORE ironing on the fusible web.



Now cut a 10 inch by 12 inch piece from your two color background print. Peel off the paper backing and center your oval on this piece (approximately 1 3/4 inches from the top and bottom and 2 inches from each side, depending on the size of your oval). Adhere the oval following the directions on the package. Peel the paper backing off of your silhouette and iron it in place inside the oval.




Using coordinating thread zig zag stitch around the oval and straight stitch around the silhouette. (This can get tedious, if you'd prefer not to sew in such detail there is fusible webbing available that doesn't need to be sewn in place.)

Cut another piece from your background fabric 12 by 14 inches. Layer this under your top piece with your quilt batting in between, pin in place. Quilt by stitching around the outside edge of the oval, then trim down to the size of the top.



Cut your ribbon into 36 inch pieces. Pin in place 1 1/2 inches from each edge along the top. Fold up the remaining ribbon and pin it to make sure it stays out of your seams when you bind the wall hanging. Stitch along the top, near the edge to help keep the ribbon straight.



Now take the remainder of your dark fabric and cut 2 inch strips that total approximately 50 inches in length. Lay your strips perpendicular to each other and sew from the top right corner to the bottom left to piece your strips together.



When you fold it over it makes a pretty little bias seam like this. Continue piecing together your strips in this manner.



When you are finished, trim the excess and press the seams open to reduce bulk.



Now press your completed binding strip in half lengthwise keeping your seams on the inside. Press the bottom half only toward the center crease in your strip. Once you are finished fold 1/2 inch on the left end. This will become the casing for the raw end of your binding strip.



Line up the raw edge of your binding strip with the raw edge of your wall hanging starting at least two inches from any one side. Start sewing about two inches from the folded end using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.



Stop sewing 1/2 inch from the corner and fold the binding strip so that the raw edges are flush along the next side. Sew to 1/2 inch from the next corner. Repeat the technique until about two inches from your folded edge.



Stop here and place the raw end of your binding strip inside the other piece. Now continue sewing until you meet your starting point. Flip to the back side and hand stitch in place.

Take the pins out of your ribbon and tie a bow. Cut the ends in a V shape and you're all set to hang on the wall!



Gorgeous!