Washington D.C. quilt w/ scrap crumb top

 Scraps here, scraps there, scraps everywhere.  They seem to grow like weeds!  The more you use them, the more you seem to have!!  

I went on a scrap quilt spree last year.  I've always wanted to try making a scrap crumb quilt, so when I saw it come up as a "come along" by Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts, I decided to join in.  

Here is the link is the link to the post about my scrap crumb experience, which I had a lot of fun with.  It's pretty funny to watch a person's face as they look at a scrap vortex quilt and try to figure out a pattern, or where the blocks are, if they don't know how to make one.  

On the back, I wanted to try something I hadn't quilted before.  A map.  A map of Washington D. C.

I ordered several maps online, and narrowed down the area I wanted to quilt.

I wasn't sure how to tackle this beast, but I knew it started with blowing up this map.  I decided on a finished size and set off to find a printer that could help me.  

After several tries, I found a printer that could think outside the box.  He came up with printing the map on 20 sheets of paper, measuring 12x18 inches.  I found some great colors of felt for rivers and parks, and different colored threads for the different roads, and labeling landmarks.

I laid the map out and taped it together in rows.

I used Golden Threads Quilting Paper to transfer the information that I wanted to quilt onto the fabric.  I started with the Potomac River, then the major freeways, then smaller roads, and finally landmarks.

There was a lot of down time, as it took me a while to figure out how to create what I saw in my head.

This quilt and map of Washington D.C. represents a history of 2 people coming together.  A baby was conceived and placed for adoption.  A lovely family adopted this baby and this child grew up in the suburbs north of Washington D.C.  Meanwhile, the birth mother took a job in Washington and lived west of the city.  This quilt is a history of where those 2 people lived their lives.

It includes places of residence, burial places, airports . . .

places of worship, and places of education . . .

                 

It includes places of birth, work places and the gloriousness that our nation's capital has to share. 

This quilt was presented to the birthmother after over 50 years of not knowing what happened to her child.