DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional quilter, any and all advice given is from me, a novice/self-taught quilter that’s still figuring things out. So if you know a better way, do it!! And, to all the accomplished quilters out there, I’m sorry if I’m doing everything wrong.

So novice or not, I do love quilts and blankets. There is something so comforting and so full of love about them. I slept with the quilt my grandmother made me until I was…well…I don’t think we are close enough for me to admit that yet. 🙂

Anyway I just finished a quilt for my newest nephew. Of course, it needed a theme and my nephew’s dad (my brother-in-law), LOVES comic books and such. They go to ComiCon, dress up, the whole thing, they are R-E-A-L-L-Y into it. Because of my brother-in-law, I’ve even enjoyed all the Marvel movies, and Superman and Batman…and I have to admit I’m a fan too.

So, I was at Joann’s looking for inspiration and I found this great Marvel print. Now, it is way TOO much for the entire quilt, but perfect for the backing. With some thought, I decided to make a Captain America inspired applique quilt for my nephew’s first birthday present. And, SPOILER ALERT: It. Is. Awesome.

Materials: (all purchased at Joann’s)
Flannel Marvel Print Fabric
Flannel Red, Gray, and Navy Blue Fabric
Interfacing
Coordinating Thread
Quilt Batting
Coordinating Embroidery Floss

The Plan:
For big projects like this, I like to map out what I’m trying to do. It really helps me think through how much fabric I’m going to need and what dimensions are going to work best. I wanted my finished quilt to measure 54″x 44″ so every subsequent measurement was based on that. I know the circle measurements seem a little odd, but I wanted to make the largest circle in the shield as big as possible given the fabric width, so I started there. Then I decided how big the smallest circle should be and the other two ended up splitting the difference. Anyway here is my plan…

Cutting Out:

1. I started by creating patterns for my stars. I decided I needed three sizes of stars. The big star for the center of Captain America’s shield (12″), and then two sizes of stars to applique on the rest of the quilt (7″ and 4.5″). Here’s my pattern if you want to use it, Star Template.
2. To applique the stars, it is important to use interfacing to strengthen the fabric, it also helps give a really clean edge. So trace out your stars on interfacing – one 12″ star, four 7″ stars, and eight 4.5″ stars. I’ve done another applique quilt where I skipped this step, and it’s still on my to-do fix it.
3. Once you trace out your stars on the interfacing, cut them out leaving at least a quarter-inch around them.
4. Arrange the stars on your fabric and iron on. I did the 12″ star  on the gray fabric, the 7″ stars on the Marvel fabric (I lined these up carefully), and four each of the 4.5″ stars on the red and gray fabric.
   
5. Now you cut out your stars.
6. Next I cut out the circles for the shield, following the sizing on my plan above. I also used interfacing on each of these pieces, following the same system as the stars. Trace pattern, iron onto fabric, cut out.
   
7. Cut out the front and back pieces. Leave an extra inch or two on the front piece, and a couple extra inches for the backing.

Phew, all the pieces are cut out…we are ready to start sewing next time. You can now read Part II here!

–h