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Historically, quilting has played a significant role in the lives of African Americans. This practice dates back to the Antebellum era, when slave women were needed for spinning, weaving, sewing and quilting in wealthy plantation households. Amazingly, though tasked with overwhelming workloads, some women realized the importance of self-expression and made the time to record their unique histories. Through their forced handiwork, they memorized patterns from their mistresses and fellow slaves, and collected leftover material and discarded scraps to incorporate into personal projects. Sometimes sold to whites to make extra money, bed coverings and quilts could also be passed along to convey hidden messages that were essential tools for escaping along the Underground Railroad.
Popular coded patterns included:
Sawtooth
Drunkard's Path
Railroad Crossing
Tree of Paradise
Ocean Wave
Feathered Star
Nine Patch
Today, the legacy of those brave women lives on in the patterns passed down through the generations and quilt-making continues to be a popular form of pictorial storytelling within the African American community.
Featured Titles:
For additional information, explore Freedom Trails: Legacies of Hope
Today you will create a greeting card inspired by African American quilts using vinyl cut by an electronic cutter and cardstock.
TIPS
Keyboard shortcuts: Undo (Ctrl+Z), Select All (Ctrl+A), Group (Ctrl+G), Duplicate (Ctrl+D) Copy (Ctrl+C), Paste (Ctrl+V)
The electronic cutting tool cuts from one color of vinyl/cardstock at a time.
Feel free to talk with or assist your neighbor in this informal learning environment.
Design Goals
4” x 5.25” vinyl design with 12 panels
Learning Outcomes
Introduction to Inkscape w/ emphasis on align/distribute and shape tools
Software and File Types Used
Inkscape, Silhouette Studio
SVG, DXF
1. Download and open quilt template
♦ Download QuiltCardTemplate to the Desktop. Right-click the file and select Inkscape, or drag it to the Inkscape icon.
♦ The rectangle in the middle of your screen is your page (workspace) - it is 3.6” x 4.85”.
♦ For your convenience, the Align and Distribute and Transform menus should be open on the right side of the window.
-- If they are missing, both are accessible under Object.
2. Create a rectangle, Align it to page
♦ Click the Rectangle tool.
♦ Click and drag anywhere to create a vertical rectangle that is longer than the page.
♦ In the color palette along the bottom, click a bright color to fill your rectangle.
♦ Hold down SHIFT, click black to set your stroke and give your rectangle an outline.
♦ Click the Select tool, make sure your rectangle is selected.
-- An object is selected if it has a dashed outline and arrow handles. Always click the edge of something to Select it.
♦ In Tool Controls, type 0.250 next to W (unit should be inches), hit ENTER.
♦ Under Align and Distribute, choose Page in the Relative to dropdown.
♦ Click Align left edges and Center on horizontal axis under Align.
-- Your rectangle should extend beyond the page.
3. Duplicate and Align rectangles to create vertical borders
♦ With your rectangle selected, hit (CTRL + D) or click Edit > Duplicate to duplicate it.
-- Do not hold down the D key - tap it quickly, otherwise you will end up with a huge stack of duplicates.
♦ Click Align right sides.
♦ Duplicate (CTRL + D) either rectangle TWICE.
♦ Drag a selection box around all of your rectangles.
-- Notice “4 objects selected” at the bottom of the screen.
♦ Click Distribute Centers Equidistantly Horizontally under Distribute.
4. Duplicate and Align rectangles to create horizontal borders
♦ Hit ESC to deselect the rectangles.
♦ Select any rectangle, Duplicate it.
♦ In Tool Controls, click Rotate selection 90 counter-clockwise to make it horizontal.
♦ Click Align top edges, Click Center on vertical axis.
♦ Duplicate the horizontal rectangle, click Align bottom edges.
♦ Duplicate either horizontal rectangle THREE times.
♦ Drag a selection box around all of your horizontal rectangles -- Notice “5 objects selected”.
♦ Click Distribute Centers Equidistantly Vertically.
5. Use Exclusion to join borders, Break Apart to clean up edges
♦ Select All (CTRL + A) of your rectangles.
♦ Click Path > Exclusion.
♦ Click Path > Break Apart.
♦ Hold down SHIFT and select all of the rectangles that extend out beyond the page, hit DELETE on the keyboard.
6. Create and Align rectangle for outermost border
♦ Click the Rectangle tool.
♦ Click and drag a rectangle of any size.
♦ Click Select, Type 4.000 next to W, Type 5.25 next to H, hit ENTER.
♦ Click Center on vertical axis and Center on horizontal axis -- your design will be hidden under the largest rectangle.
7. Use Exclusion to join border elements, Resize Page
♦ Select All of the objects.
♦ Click Path > Exclusion -- your borders are finished, the design feartures 12 large square panels.
♦ Click File > Document Properties.
♦ Click Resize Page to Content > Click Resize page to drawing or selection, Click the X to close the window.
♦ Hit ESC to deselect everything.
8. Use Star/Polygon tool to create a North Star
The North Star was a astral guidepost to help slaves find their way north and the design (called Sawtooth) was a symbol for the freedom available in many northern states. We’re going to make a simplified version today.
♦ Click the Star tool.
♦ In color palette, click white -- you should still have a black stroke.
♦ In Tool Controls, select , change Corners to 8 and Spoke ratio to 0.540
-- leave Rounded and Randomized at 0.000.
♦ Hold down CTRL, click and drag out a star -- no matter how you move, it will be crooked.
♦ Click the Rotate tab in the Transform menu.
♦ Type 7.500 next to Angle, click Apply a few times until your star straightens out.
♦ To scale your star, select it, Hold down CTRL, click and drag a corner handle.
♦ Click and drag the star to position it within one of the 12 square panels.
-- Scale it to take up at least half of the panel to make design weeding (removal of excess vinyl) easier.
9. Create shapes for the remaining boxes
♦ Fill your quilt with North Stars, or use Circle, Rectangle, or Star tools to add variety to your design.
♦ Play with the Tool Controls to make interesting forms that tell YOUR story.
♦ Select any shape to access the handles for scaling, click a second time to activate rotation/skewing handles.
♢ TIP
♢ To quickly add a copy of an existing shape to another panel, click and drag it, do not release the mouse button.
♢ Hover over the new panel, quickly tap the SPACEBAR to paste a copy.
♢ Once finished, hover your mouse over the shape’s original location and release the mouse to set it back down.
★ For the sake of time, we ask that you use a single shape in each panel. ★
10. Finalize your design
♦ Select All of the objects, click Path > Exclusion -- it’s all one object now!
11. Save as SVG and DXF to the Desktop
♦ Click File > Save As
♦ Select Desktop as the save location, change the file name from QuiltCardTemplate to your name.
♦ Save as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic) to edit and use again later.
♦ Save as DXF (Desktop Cutting Plotter) for the Cameo Cutter. In the pop-up dialog, uncheck the LWPOLYLINE box!
♦ Staff will come around to collect your files. We’ll guide you through the cutting process with our Silhouette Cameos.
♦ We'll direct you to the survey which helps us improve our workshops and learn about makerspaces in libraries.
Thanks for visiting!
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