I have these wildlife pcs of fabric that was given to my husband along time ago they have buffalo, rams, and other different ones but the people that had them before had cut them but did not cut them square.so they are way off and I want to make a quilt or something with them but not sure how to straighten them without messing up the animals on them...As soon as my camera charges up I will post a couple pictures of them and then maybe someone could give me some advise...Not sure if I posted this in the right place See how close they cut it on the right side of the fabric...
thanks

if they are too close to trim square u might think about appliqueing them on to ur blocks

You could sew a border on each edge, then cut the block square and call it wonky animals :lol:

I was thinking along the same lines. There's not anything wrong with a quilt that is a little wonky. Gives it more personality.

Ok I posted a picture and the right side is to close. I have never did any thing to extravagent so if its complicated i cant do it...lol

Would you be able to get just the animal and get rid of the white? I'm new to quilting so I was just thinking this might work.

I agree - I would square them up, getting rid of more of the white areas on the blocks.

I think I'd trim the other 3 sides down, eliminating a lot of the white, and then border them with a coordinating color, perhaps a light brown, or green. Love the big horn sheep! I think you will come up with a really terrific quilt.

ok thank you will try to trim what I can of the white the only thing is they are not all the same size so its going to be tough but I think with all your help I will figure something out...some of the pictures where it is green on the one I got posted some of the others have a blue instead of green
thanks

I don't think it would hurt to lose some of the background as long as the animals are complete. One thing you can do is take a square the size you want (a clear ruler maybe) and frame the animals in each block. Choose a size that leaves the most picture in each block. Then cut them all to that size. Then you can put a "frame" around them. How many do you have? Are you going to have to supplement them with other blocks to have enough to make your quilt?

You'll need to cut the other side as close as the right side is cut to kinda balance it out. So, make sure the right side is straight, then use your ruler and cut either the top or bottom (making sure you are making it square), then cut the left side as close as the right side is cut---just eyeball it, then finish the last side. Remember that you will be including your 1/4" seam allowance..It won't be perfect, but the animals will be fine..the background is the only thing effected. It will be a pretty quilt!

It almost looks like the scene continued on and it was cut to make individual blocks of each animal. Do any of the blocks fit together like that? I like the applique idea...cutting around the picture and then applique on blocks.

I have around 50 of them. I think the person that had them before put a piece of material on the back and then slit it and stuff the picture to make it stand out that is what one of the ones I got has on the back of it and is stuff a little. but I dont want to do that

My grama made quilts like that in the late 60's early 70's :D:D:D

You can trim them so they all show just some white around some of the edges. Don't worry about some of the sides with the greenery :wink: just keep enough white around the animals so they don't get cut off.

Then measure them, figure out the difference between the smallest and biggest square.
Add different colored sashing strips to each block (green on one block, brown on another, etc) in a width to bring them all up to the same size.

If your largest block is 6", add 1 1/2" sashing strips to them (9" block).
If your smallest block is 4 1/2" add sashing strips 2 1/4" to them (9" block).

You can pick out a few widths of sashing strips, sew them onto the blocks and then square them up to 9". Unless you want to measure them all out :wink:

You can lay them out randomly, and the blocks will be offset, none will line up perfectly, but that is ok, it is the style now :D:D:D

That's what I'd do too. Put a border around them to frame and it would look like you planned it if they're all trimmed the same.

After the blocks are together you are the only one that will know how they started. As long as your animal is all there I wouldn't worry about the background stuff.

To test what you like take a piece of paper or tape several together, cut out the center the size of the block you would like them to be and lay it on each of the blocks to see if it would work on all of them. This way there is no cutting at first, no mistakes and you can see what they would look like before cutting. Also, doing it this way you will be able to move the opening around and capture just what you want.

Good luck!

Another way, make it w/a picture frame look. I'm not sure that's what it is called, but I always thought that looks neat. Anyway you do it will look nice.

Have you thought about doing the "window in the attic" quilt. There you can use all of your animals and can cut out as much of the unnecessary background you want. The placement of each animal will not have to be centered and un-squared blocks will not be a problem.

I also like the attic window idea. that way you can have more of the white back ground in the upper left hand corner and it would look normal. I guess that will only work if all the blocks are short on the right side. (SIGH) I hate how the preprinted panels are NOT square

You might add borders (sashing?) to the blocks then square up the blocks at that stage. I had a quilting teacher suggest that to me for some squares I'd inherited that were not the same size--not a lot off but some. Squaring the border I put around the block instead of the
block itself worked and it was not noticeable in the finished quilt top.

I agree...this is probably the easiest thing to do. I really like the pics you posted. I'd love to get my hands on a set like these.

This is a great way to do these types of pic. Great wall hanging or quilt for the 'man cave/den'

Use the attic windows pattern, This would be what you are seeing through the windows, so if you miss a small part, it wouldn't matter.

They'd be beautiful in an attic windows quilt with some pictures being complete and some not. The scene out my window is not complete... Just cut them the size you need and frame them.

ok now that I got all the good ideals I am fairly new to quilting Have done some but the easy ones..nothing to advanced. so my next question is where do I find the instructions for the attic windows pattern thank you all for the great ideals they are all greatly appreciated
thank you
sandy

Sandy, one other thought....put a narrow border around each square the place them as a collage, over lapping one another, staggering, etc. It would not matter how much of the white is showing because you can simply cover it with another pictue. You will be useing fabric instead of photo prints.

I think I would square them up,, trying to balance the white, U might loose some of ur scene? Still better than being off balance. That would bother u more.......

Applique would probably be a good solution-they are beautiful, and would make a great quilt.

Go to the top of the page and click on Search. In the search line type Attic Windows Tutorial. There are plenty of pictures and instructions. There is one that will print instructions on a PDF document.

If you don't want to tackle "Y" seams yet, try the Easy Attic Windows method on this site: http://www.quiltaholics.com/bom/attwin.htm

Are they all the same size? Perhaps you could choose a brown or green and sew sashing around each to square them individually. Then plan a quilt where the blocks are of different sizes and off set the blocks kind of like staggering them the way bricks are laid. ps love your gray. :D

What's the size of the actual picture... Maybe by squaring the pictures up and using triangles ion all 4 sides would make it look more interesting, take a color from the prints like a soft green... and use that... I also had animals and made a Bear paw quilt for m son years ago...

I appliqued those pictures on the light background..

I used strips around my blocks to make them all a uniform size and it looks like it was supposed to be that way. The
basket blocks are sorta 6 1/2" and the 9 patch blocks are
6 1/2", I didn't want to make any more blocks and the finished blocks are 9 1/2".
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...45965719MqTIac

I did the same thing with the bird blocks in this quilt, they were from a block of the month drawing and they weren't all the right size.
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...45965719TMBNue
Sharon W.

No they are not the same size most of them maybe but they are all off cut..thats the way they were when my DH got them

sometimes when I come across this type of situation I add a boarder around the whole picture trying to square the picture as best I can. Then I will square out the whole block using the added boarders. Like someone mentioned you could do the Wonky type blocks if they are way off but I find most will square up fairly well without much trouble.

One other thing that helps is it to try and use a fabric that blends into the picture's background so it doesn't catch the eye as quickly. If that doesn't work I go the opposite direction and you a fabric that really makes it stand out. You will need to play with each picture to see what works best for each one. They don't all have to be done the same to work well together. Similar is good.

Adding an accent boarder might really help to compliment the pictures.
Good luck

Have you thought about cutting out your squares and making them into a shadow box quilt? That would definitely bring attention to only the animals and not the background if you have to cut most of it off to square them. Just an idea. Good Luck. I'm sure hubby will love it no matter what you do.

http://www.kayewoodtv.com/ktv/

Try the link above and click on the video that is entitled "Fussy Cut Diamonds" and you will get an idea of how more interesting effects could be made from your animal pictures, and perhaps you could use a giant cube as the centre piece to a medallion quilt.

Maybe a "modified" log cabin...one side can be wider than the other and you might end up with rectangles instead of a square. I could probably work something out with that.