Sunday, November 23, 2014

Make a quilt in an evening--A PAPER ORIGAMI quilt that is!

Once upon a time, I used to quilt. I wasn't super-great at it, but I loved it and had fun. I think it's the graphic designer in me seeing all of those neat little shapes in neat little rows just makes me happy! But now I have four kiddos and I'm going to grad school. As for quilting..."Ain't nobody got time for that!" But, my sister is a wonderful quilter and churns out quilts left and right. And her work is better than mine ever was or will be--she's into detail and hand-stitching and all other sorts of craziness :-) And she has a stash of fabric that is *to die for!!*


I thought my quilting days were done (or on hold for a good long time), but, stay with me on this...

My family and I also *LOVE* origami--I don't know what it is about folding a tiny piece of paper a few times and magically getting a little shirt, a ballon, a lantern, or a samurai hat, but we can't get enough! So, awhile back, I saw this neat origami piece that had a bunch of what I figured out were origami samurai hats/helmets arranged on a colored background that looked like--a QUILT! OK, now quilts are still one of my favorite things--so I pinned it and would look at it fondly whenever I saw it in amongst my 5000+ pins...


The last time I stumbled on my origami quilt pin, I thought, "Hey that would be great for my sister!" So, I bought a pack of origami paper from the craft store (about $12.00 for 200 sheets) and coerced my kiddos to help me make a bunch of samurai hats.

Samurai hats are easy to make and even my four-year-old could do them. She ended up making about 15 or so! They were a little "unique" but usable, nonetheless! Here's link to see how to make a samurai hat.


You'll need 32 hats for this arrangement. We made so many, we had enough to make two "quilts"--one for me and one for my sister! The hats are mounted on 18" x 24" piece of Canson pastel paper. You could use mat board, but this is what I had on hand and it is wonderful quality paper and comes in a bunch of colors (and it is easy to measure and cut at home).

This project would make a great class project either for a teacher or for a group auction piece. It's also great for anyone who loves quilts and quilting. It's unusual and a conversation starter! The project took us a night to make two completed "quilts." You could make smaller versions that would fit in a 12" x 12" frame (so three rows of 6 samurai hats) or you could work with the mini origami paper (it's about 3" square) to make cards for your friends.

I hope you try this project and have fun with it and origami! ENJOY!

5 comments:

  1. What size paper did u start with.

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  2. Replies
    1. Hi Sarah! We used standard-size origami paper for the hats: 6" square. I no longer have the finished piece in my possession (I gave it to my sister as a gift), but the outer dimensions of the "mat" (which is just nice Canson pastel paper, were cut to fit in a cheap standard-size frame from the craft store. Hope that helps! Have fun--and if you make one of these, please email me a photo--I'd love to post it to the blog. Take care, Mrs. P

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  3. What size paper did u start with.

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