Wednesday, December 05, 2018

Still Dreaming

I haven't hardly sat still all fall. I haven't written a blog post in over a month either...My bad. It is certainly not because of not quilting. I have spent considerable time getting a couple of new classes -- their content, hand outs and custom fabrics prepared. Nothing is truly quick.

In the last 2 weeks, I have quilted two more of these beautiful Dream Big panels. This blue/purple colorway is stunning. It is hands down the hardest one I have done in terms of marking though. Neither the blue or purple pens show very well, and the fabric has enough texturizing in its coloring that using chalk is even pretty hard to see. There are a few grid-based designs, but not as many as I might have done had marking been simpler.
Like all of the Dream Big panels I have done, both of these quilts have wool and blend battings. The combo gives so much more to the texture of the fill designs. 
 The threads are all variations of 40wt thread - some Superior Magnifico, some YLI Polished Poly and some Glide. Which one I pick depends on the color needed.
I try to vary which fills I place beside one another so that linear designs go beside more flowy patterns, and vise versa. It helps all patterns to show up that much more. 
Both of these quilts had solid fabric backings. This is a pale lavender that did not photograph well.
It sure shows the patterns though!

The second quilt is the pink variation. I did one of these for myself to use teaching.
This panel has many of the same fills as the purple one, but several are different too. It is a liberating process of quilting these!
This variation has mostly backfills, but I always throw in 4-6 petals of feathers too. About 6 of the fills also use the marked grid. It makes for a lovely mix of textures.
 Some fills are very traditional, while others are edgier and more modern.

If you have one of these panels and might like it quilted, give me a shout (msolomo1@maine.rr.com). Likewise, steps for how you can quilt these patterns and feathers are included in my books (the green books are the fills, and Fearless Feathers) - just click on the icons on the right sidebar. 

I'm about to load a lovely wool applique quilt next :-)
Quilt on!


4 comments:

Joyce said...

Margaret, do you mark these before you load them? I have enjoyed seeing each one you have done. I hope to work on my own in just a few weeks.
Joyce Greer-One Loose Thread

Susan Lawson said...

Beautiful Margaret!

Sana said...

Margaret, I *love* this idea! I've ordered one of these panels and I already have both your grid-based designs book and the fearless feathers. I like the idea of using this as a repository for different fills: instead of paging through your book to choose a design, I can look at the panel. That's my plan, anyway. And I've asked for your other two titles as Xmas gifts...

Sana

winie said...

Hi Margaret - you probably don't remember me, but in 2016 you quilted a crib blanket for me called "Remember Whoo loves you". I am currently making another crib blanket and would be ecstatic if you would agree to quilt this blanket as well. Thank you and anxiously awaiting your anticipated agreement to quilt this blanket as well.
Winnie Perich winnieperich@gmail.com
3951 Frederick Street
Pittsburgh PA 15227
412 884 2842 land line
412 551 8498 cell