A total newb making an 8-bit LoZ themed quilt...

[FreakieGeekie]

Is that a completely horrible idea for someone who has never quilted?
I was thinking I could make it a patchwork type and having something different in each square, such as his sword in one, his shield in one, etc.
I'm not afraid of that part. Well, not terrified of it at least.
I'm afraid of the actual QUILTING part because I don't know which method would be best for that. I don't know much about quilting at all.

And, on a related note, would I offend any fellow nerds if I didn't match the colors exactly? I want to use up some of my stash before I go buying any more fabric and I don't know that I have anything that matches 100%.

Any help is much appreciated!

[MareMare]

It sounds really fun! As long as you know that it's going to be a huge project and that you'll learn a lot along the way, I don't think it's a terrible first quilting project

Are you thinking something like this~?

http://www.spritestitch.com/?p=5285

I'm about the biggest Zelda nerd out there, and I wouldn't be offended by changing up colors

[FreakieGeekie]

I'd never seen that before! It's lovely! **squeals**
I was discussing the quilt with my sister, who is a LoZ nerd too, and she suggested also including some 16-bit LoZ stuff to make the quilt more of a nod to classic Link.

[MareMare]

Yeah I only found it when I googled for it, I've seen lots of just Link, and lots of the way you described with Mario but I hadn't seen this one before either! I can't wait to see what you come up with! And, I think for something like this it would be fine/best to just stitch in the ditch around the blocks or even the smalls squares.

[FreakieGeekie]

I decided to go with just 16-bit LoZ as a tribute to Link to the Past, my favorite old school LoZ game.
I have Reader's Digest "Complete Guide to Needlework" and I found a type of quilting called pillow quilting. For it, you sew each square individually and stuff them loosely with filler then stitch it closed. The finished pieces can then be slipstitched together by hand or sewn using a fine zigzag stitch on a sewing machine.
I figure this will be easiest for me since I'm doing it by hand.

[MareMare]

Nice! So like a biscuit quilt or puff quilt.

[FreakieGeekie]

Right. I think the book called it a pillow quilt. A puff quilt has squares that are stuffed more than the pillow ones. Or at least that's what the book shows.
There are so many things that I could put on the quilt. I'm making myself crazy trying to decide what to use.

[FreakieGeekie]

Okay so I've come up with a 42 square quilt: six across, seven down.
I'm making it for a queen size bed. I figured make each square 15" x 15", which will make a quilt that's 90"w x 105" l, which will be a little bigger than I need but it will work. Each square will actually be cut out to be 15.5" x 15.5" so that I have a quarter inch seam allowance on each side.
I hope I've done the math correctly as it was never my forte in school: I was more into history, English, and art.

[MareMare]

Sounds good! I never worry too much about final size, I figure if I have a ball park figure I'm ok

[FreakieGeekie]

Now all I have to do is pick up some batting this weekend when I go craft shopping and I'll be set.
I try not to craft shop since my stash has gotten out of hand, but I need 15mm cat type eyes for a plushie I'm working on and I figured I could go ahead and buy the batting for my quilt while I'm out and about.

[FreakieGeekie]

This is the template I drew up. It's very rough but it's good enough for me to understand. My dad helped me with the math and it should be big enough for my queen size bed when I'm finished with it.

[FreakieGeekie]

Okay so I'm having issues again. I want it to look good and my family keeps throwing ideas at me.
My sister said just do a complete LoZ theme across the board using different games and my dad said just to turn the 16-bit to 8-bit or something. **dizzy**

[FreakieGeekie]

URGH this is driving me batty.
Now I know why they call quilters the most patient people out there.

[MareMare]

I would make it as simple as you can since it's your first one. Find your designs, get them written down/graphed out/printed out whatever and then just stick with it and don't change it anymore.

[FreakieGeekie]

I've finally gotten narrowed down and am deciding what will make the border. I'm going to make something similar to the one you showed me, only in 16-bit instead.

[noturavggeek]

I say go with the design you're going to be happiest with and think you'll be able to accomplish. And as for the "back seat crafters", just tell them to hush up unless they plan on making a quilt! 

[FreakieGeekie]

My sister is trying to help because she wants me to teach her as I go. I told her that if she wants me to get started so I can teach her that she has to stop throwing ideas at me.
As for my dad, he just wants to see what I can do because he's as much of an 8-bit and 16-bit game nerd as I am. He used to play the original Mario Bros. with me and helped me learn to play LoZ: A Link to the Past.

[noturavggeek]

For your sister, I'd get her some fabric scraps or a small charm pack and have her work on a mug rug or something small to learn on. From my perspective, trying to teach someone at the same time you're learning something new can get really frustrating.

I give you kudos for trying to do an 8 or 16 bit quilt...I don't have the patience to cut out millions of little squares

[FreakieGeekie]

I can teach as I learn. That's the ONLY way I can teach because otherwise I'm just doing it because it's second nature and whoever I'm teaching gets lost.

Well, I really really want a LoZ quilt and I don't want to have to pay someone to make it so I'm learning patience and teaching myself to do it.

[Atrimis]

I totally had the same idea. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was one of the first LoZ games I ever played and completed. I've been messing around transferring some of the images from the game into pixels on a grid. I was wondering if you were planning on having any sort of separation between the blocks? Also with the way you have it set up, since Link is, on average, twice the number of pixels compared to his items (Most are ~12, and link is 22) the best option is an even number of squares up and down, and an odd number left an right...

Humm, although my idea of a number of 14x14 inch squares, with each square containing 1 inch square pixels (okay I'm realizing just how many squares this idea is going to take... and it makes my head hurt)

So any ideas would be nice! (By the way, not including the upgrades, there's the Bow, Boomerang, 3 spells, lantern, fire rod, Ice rod, cape, 2 canes, fairy, bee/good bee, 3 potions(all 5 of which go into bottles) book of mudora, whistle and the bird you summon (oh and the shovel you get to GET the whistle), hammer, mirror, hookshot, bombs, magic powder, bug catching net, pegasus boots, gloves, flippers, moon pearl, compass, map, key, big key, the crystals, the pendants, magic vials (for restoring your magic meter) rupees, heart refill, heart piece and heart container, his sword and shield, armor, oh and the Triforce.

Obviously this is a lot of items, and a number of them are optional, like all 3 spells... Since the canes are different types, you'd only need 1...

GAH the options and possibilities are driving me insane!

*Grumbles* 14 doesn't even work! some of them are 16 pixels! (actually the items are 12 and 14, but I'm giving them a 1 pixel buffer on all sides, making the squares 14 and 16)

[FreakieGeekie]

Lol dizzying, isn't it? I had my idea sketched out but our puppy shredded it so I need to start over. This time, I'll do it on the computer!