Recently I located the Tardis quilt I made some years as a knee throw for my husband. It still looked quite nice, even after around 10 years, so I thought I would share some insights into creating your own Tardis quilt if you are so inclined. the actual pattern has long since been swallowed by time but since there are so many images of the Tardis out there, making your own shouldn't be too difficult.
I decided to make this quilt as simply as possible. I used simple blocks to create the Tardis shape, and then highlighted the shape using black bias tape. I based the overall quilt design on the Tardis disappearing down a time tunnel. There are so many wonderful all over mulitcoloured fabrics they were ideal for the time corridor effect.
To create the time corridor panels, I believe I made a big background panel pieced from multicoloured fabrics that merge quite well. I was a very inexperienced quilter and sewer back then and it just seemed easier to make a giant multicoloured surface and then applique the giant Tardis shape in blue over the top. Thats exactly what I did!
This method uses extra fabric but then its a quilt and supposed to keep you warm so if the fabric is not too expensive then why not.
I then added black silhouette shapes over the top to form the door highlights. I added grey panels for the windows and the light on the top. I appliqued gold shapes for the handle and key hole.
All of the highlights are done in standard stained glass window style and a black border ties it all together. The black lines work well to highlight the timey wimey bits!
The parts I wish I had done differently are the wording sections on the front. I printed words onto paper and then painted the paper with acrylic lacquer. This was not super successful especially after a wash!
On reflection, I would have done the big Police Box wording in Felt and stitch on. The wording on the door :"Police Public Call Box" I would get printed by Spoonflower (professional and quite cost effective at about $10 a fat quarter. I think I have even seen a couple of designers on there who have prepared one already - so much better then my original method.
This was a standard size single bed quilt and I think it was not too hard to make or too expensive. I know thought that after I did this quilt I realised how mach better smaller projects are.
I decided to make this quilt as simply as possible. I used simple blocks to create the Tardis shape, and then highlighted the shape using black bias tape. I based the overall quilt design on the Tardis disappearing down a time tunnel. There are so many wonderful all over mulitcoloured fabrics they were ideal for the time corridor effect.
To create the time corridor panels, I believe I made a big background panel pieced from multicoloured fabrics that merge quite well. I was a very inexperienced quilter and sewer back then and it just seemed easier to make a giant multicoloured surface and then applique the giant Tardis shape in blue over the top. Thats exactly what I did!
This method uses extra fabric but then its a quilt and supposed to keep you warm so if the fabric is not too expensive then why not.
I then added black silhouette shapes over the top to form the door highlights. I added grey panels for the windows and the light on the top. I appliqued gold shapes for the handle and key hole.
All of the highlights are done in standard stained glass window style and a black border ties it all together. The black lines work well to highlight the timey wimey bits!
The parts I wish I had done differently are the wording sections on the front. I printed words onto paper and then painted the paper with acrylic lacquer. This was not super successful especially after a wash!
On reflection, I would have done the big Police Box wording in Felt and stitch on. The wording on the door :"Police Public Call Box" I would get printed by Spoonflower (professional and quite cost effective at about $10 a fat quarter. I think I have even seen a couple of designers on there who have prepared one already - so much better then my original method.
This was a standard size single bed quilt and I think it was not too hard to make or too expensive. I know thought that after I did this quilt I realised how mach better smaller projects are.
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