#42 Grandpa Robbins

#42: Grandpa Robbins
Finished: 10/21/12
Techniques: Photo fabric, Applique, Echo quilting, Machine embroidery
Size: 17" x 18"

Description: My grandfather, Leroy V. Robbins, was inducted today into the National 4-H Hall of Fame for his 50 years of service as a 4-H volunteer and leader. I'm glad to honor him with this mini-quilt. He helped organize the first 4-H program in Louisiana, in East Baton Rouge Parish. One of the 4-H projects he was involved in was raising champion Southdown sheep. As a child, I remember the sheep he raised on his property, which we affectionately refer to as "Robbins Roost."

I started out by printing the 4-H motto words, "Head", "Heart", "Hands", "Health", with the machine embroidery alphabet on my sewing machine. I then traced the 4-H four-leaf clover design onto some green fabric and appliquéd it between the embroidered words.

The picture of my grandpa was the most creative part of this project. I wanted to include a picture, but I had a problem: I didn't have any photo fabric. And according to my pledge for this project, I couldn't buy anything new to create the mini-quilt. So I wondered if I could make my own photo fabric using materials at hand. And this is the reason I love the Internet! Searching "make your own photo fabric" brought up several sites. 

The simplest method I found had instructions to print off a photo by ironing freezer paper onto the back of fabric and running it through an ink jet printer. And while most sites suggested using something called "Bubble Jet Set 2000" ink fixative, one site said it wasn't necessary as long as you weren't planning on washing the project. So I gave it a try. My freezer paper didn't want to stick well to the fabric so I also used a quilt basting spray to make it stick. Then I ran it through my printer and it worked like a charm! 

I made several copies of grandpa's photo to test and practice. Sure enough, you don't want to wash it. Running it under water made all the colors run except the black. And even ironing it with steam made it fade somewhat. Ironing it without steam seemed to be OK, but I didn't iron it for very long, not wanting to press my luck  (pun intended).

Quilting was done with straight stitching and echo stitching within the four-leaf clover.

We lost Grandpa in 2006, but we all feel quite proud about his induction into the 4-H Hall of Fame.