Thursday, November 28, 2013

Quilting on a Custom

I have loaded up my applique quilt for a few days of quilting.  Like all my own projects, it will get a few days in order to get it stabilized, and then I will have to move it off in order to get some other quilts finished.  All but one of my Christmas commitments are done, unless you count the quilts I say I will make every year as gifts and never actually get to.  Maybe next year.

Now, as I post these, you get to listen to me rant for a couple minutes.  I have discovered photos of one of my not-yet-finished show quilts out there on Pinterest -- pictures that were posted here on my blog with a large warning/request to NOT POST to PINTEREST.  I was pretty ticked to see those there, because this is an original design and the quilt has yet to go to it's first show.  So I will say this here once again...

PLEASE DO NOT POST TO PINTEREST.   These pictures are not your property, and only I have the right to say that it is or is not OK to post them.  I will report you this time if I find them posted.  Promise.

Alright, with the ugliness out there, let's get on to the good stuff.  It would appear that the last time I showed a progress shot of this quilt was here, and it was not yet finished.  You get the idea though.  The other two sides just needed their applique.  Fast forward 6 months, the top was finished, and one quilter had a crazy hair to try to finish it before a February 1 deadline in order to get it entered into a show.  Time will tell if that is even possible.  Said quilter has a full January lineup of client customs, so this holiday time is my window of opportunity.  Yikes.

I have made it to the center Dahlia.  That should in no way imply that I am halfway (ha!).  There are sections to rip out and redo.  Yea, I do sadly change my mind after the fact all too often.  But, having the design defined is a large part of the process, and I have large chunks of this one in my head or on paper.  Because there are pretty silk ribbons that go around the outer border of floral applique, I have chosen to quilt them into the center background around the dahlia too.
Yesterday, I started to quilt the dahlia too.  It has a bit to go still, but is coming.  Unfortunately, the dense fill that I chose to place in 3 of the triangles around the dahlia is coming out.  I'll do that off-frame.  It could take a while.  I don't like it and need an alternative.  The remainder of the dahlia will get quilting that is more floral - petals to be exact.  I love to intermix different textures, but it is a big flower and should read as a flower.  Afterall, this quilt is little more than a big flower garden.
For those of you that are curious, I am using a Hobbs 80/20 batting with a QD wool over that.  This is the reason that such dense quilting will still yield lovely loft beneath the appliques.  I do not like to put a lot of effort into hand appliqueing only to have the appliques look flat and wrinkled, as they will with only a cotton batting.  I am also very painstakingly ditch quilting every applique and line that I want to look crisp with a clear thread.  The other quilting on the quilt is stitched with a variety of silk100 threads - gold, ivory, pink, green and brown.
 Last - a peek at the outer border.  There is considerable applique so there is not much space for developing complicated designs.  The inner section above is getting just a cross-hatch and pumpkin seed.  There is more space here, but because the fabric is a busier print, I am opting to do this to help to ground it.  The outer border is a different story.  There is no space, but I am sticking complex quilting there anyways!  The fabric is mostly solid, and the design shows perfectly.  I am avoiding traditional feathers on this quilt.  The leafy feathers fit the design better. And it looks like there might be a scalloped border in this quilt's future...

Have a Happy Turkey day.  ...and please do not post these pictures anywhere. thanks

8 comments:

Anya said...

Lovely work! To save yourself headaches in the future, you can add a code to your blog to prevent any pinning at all, because there are always people who will not do what you ask, even if means they risk being reported. Here's a link to the instructions on the Pinterest site -- https://en.help.pinterest.com/entries/21063792-Prevent-pinning-from-your-site

Cathy Hetzel said...

Your quilting and designs are just amazing......can't wait to see the Dahlia quilt finish.......beautiful work.....

Tami @ Lemon Tree Tales said...

The quilting is turning out great but I'm sorry to hear that people haven't been respecting your wishes about pins. I'd hate for you to stop sharing your work because of some dopes. Isn't there a no-pin widget that can go on your blog?

Rhonda said...

Again......WOW!!

Robin said...

My apologies. I was one of the evil pinners. I read your blog in a reader, and there were no warnings about pinning, nor any disclaimers about doing so in any recent posts. Unfortunately, I am lazy, and do not make a habit of clicking through to the actual blog when I read-- so I also did not see your sidebar warning. If it is important to you, I would suggest that you add a disclaimer to each post to make it abundantly clear, as it is evident it is important to you. It might not deter some. It would have stopped me.

Robin said...

My apologies. I am one of the evil pinners. I read your blog via a reader, and pinned from there. I am lazy and do not click through to blogs unless I am going to comment. So no warnings popped up for me and I did not see your sidebar warning. There were no disclaimers in any recent posts to remind me. I would suggest that you include the no pinning mandate with each post to make it abundantly clear. It might not deter everyone. But it would have stopped me.

Unknown said...

Mixing different color can turn out really great specially if the colors you chose blend well together like what you've did with your quilt, I've never done such big project like that, I should try it, its lovely, have you used a Sewing machine for it?

Featheronawire Sally Bramald said...

Instead of using your energy being angry wouldn't it be better to add the widget which stops people pinning? I have no problem with people pinning from my blog though I do tend to put a copyright symbol on the photos I need/want to protect.