I have had the idea of making a monopoly quilt for my dad for a looong time and have been collecting fabrics for the last couple of years. My dad has recently been diagnosed with a serious illness and it has made me feel (among others thing) like I should have pulled my socks up sooner and got started on it.
The main thing that has put me off all this time is how to do the black borders between the properties. Like this.
One of the suggestions I got from the old place (I don’t remember who it was, it was soooo long ago) was to use black piping. Which I like the idea of, but my main concern is if all that piping cord will make the quilt really stiff and not soft and squishy.
I know some commercial bedding sets use a line of piping on pillowcases and quilt covers, but has anyone used lots of piping on a quilt?
You could use narrow bias tape, and very lightweight stitch witchery to help you iron it in place before stitching it down. That way you wouldn’t have to worry about it wiggling around under the presser foot or as you take the pins out. I had a book on Celtic quilts, and that was the technique it used. If you click the link, you can see the one on the cover. All done with bias and stitch witchery.
And endymion’s idea of twill tape is a good one too!
I was thinking bias tape, too. They even make bias tape tools (Clover, I believe) that have a slot for including stitch witchery type material so you could do it all at once!
I’ve only done simple quilts but when I saw your question I immediately thought to do 1/2” strips of black as part of the quilt. Since the entire thing is on a grid it seems like the easiest solution.
I had the same thought. I just finished a quilt top in which I included a half inch border (which started as a 1" strip). It was actually very manageable and didn’t give me any trouble at all. If you don’t have one, I would also suggest getting quarter inch quilting foot. You put your fabric right up against the side of the foot and it gives you a ‘perfect’ (I’m never able to get it perfect, but I am able to get it a lot closer to perfect than I would without the foot) quarter inch seam.
Ooooh lots of ideas! I think I will be googling a few things today. Thankyou all!
@Magpie - I haven’t completely decided how much detail I am going to add in. I will be using blenders (rather than solid colours) for the properties to give a bit of interest (although with solids I would have had all the fabric years ago). I am thinking that I will applique the symbols (stations, utilities, etc) and with the black borders, it might be enough detail to know what it is, without it being too cluttered. As for the ‘MONOPOLY’ in the middle, I’m not sure yet.
You can also cut fabric that you’ve attached Heat & Bond to the back of, so you could make cloth, rather than vinyl words. You’d just need to applique over them. And if you don’t have a Cricuit or Silhouette, you might be able to do a personal crafty trade with someone else on LC who does have one.
I just thought of something else… Unless you have your heart absolutely set on piecing a giant game board quilt, have you looked into printed fabric panels of a Monopoly board?
I checked eBay, and they had a few options…
While the board panels are smaller than a whole quilt, they could form the center of the quilt, and you could use the prints of the money and cards to make some simple blocks to surround the center panel.
And while the image is certainly copyrighted, you might be able to find a large scale scan of the board online (or make a scan of a board yourself) and upload that to something like Spoonflower, to print a single larger panel for yourself. Just obviously not open a shop there and offer to sell it. You can also get printable fabric sheets, for use on a home printer. If you again used good jpgs, you could print the board in pieces, onto the 8.5"x11" sheets, then stitch those together.
Etsy also has some licensed Monopoly fabric prints that look affordable. And Spoonflower has some fabric that could make a fun backing too though it’s more expensive.
I’m sure there’s someone who has a cricut that could help. (pst. Maybe even me)
also can be cut on bonded fabric, I always forget about that cause I usually don’t mind using vinyl cause I just make tshirts with snarky sayings
@MistressJennie - thanks for those links. I have looked at the printed fabrics before, but I think I am decided on piecing the quilt. Although the money and other prints might be handy to fill in the middle space.
@sloth003 - I heard that whisper, thanks! I’ll PM you
I’ll PM you