Ponderings & Putterings

I have been slow getting back to the grind of everyday work, quilting especially. It's not that I don't have a few quilts awaiting my creative touches, I just have been swamped with other distractions like kids, Christmas and a draftsman doing the renovation prints that needs a fulltime babysitter (AKA, me). I took this quilt off the frame yesterday. It's going to a client in California. The quilt is all made from lovely Asian, gold-gilded fabrics. The piecing is simple, yet effective -- challenging for a quilter in some ways because she wants neither a pantograph nor a full-custom. Kind of hard to find a middle ground. The quilting was even further complicated because the backing fabric is icky pale ivory and does not really relate to the top, and since I match bobbin and top threads, every thread I use on the top, shows beneath. Rather than have tan threads all over the gorgeous deep blues, I resorted to the reverse. Not a great looking back, but a happy middle ground I think.

I echo quilted around the prominent cranes and moons and tried to connect the focal squares with waves and swirls, to mimic the wind in three shades of navy, turquoise and aqua. The outer border is a big question as to how well it gels with the center, but hey, gotta do something and feathering on that heavily gilded material was out of the question. It was nearly impossible to see what I was doing using templates!

There is some curved cross-hatching in areas that are outboard of the bird's flight path, just as filler. I also did some soft blue flowers, a couple dragon flies and some meandering leaves (to match the outer border) in the other non-bird squares.

Other happennings...

I got a nice email from a local quilter. I did this quilt for her in late November. It was 125"x105", the largest I have done to date. She gave it to her mom for Christmas, and she emailed to say how much her mom loved it. It's a regular flower garden!

I got another email recently from another client, showing the quilt she did (and I quilted in Nov) for her son. He was very pleased to receive it.

And...(drum roll)...I have become bored showing my other 2 projects which will be a project for a while still, so I have moved onto designing something new. I have not decided if I will force myself to use only stash fabrics or if a small purchase of the backgrounds will be OK. I doubt I have enough of the tan and yellows in any fabric to do the quilt. It probably needs 2-3 yards of each! I designed this using EQ7. I have been hankering to do another feathered star, but with a twist...with a bunch of hand applique. Obviously, the quilt will not have the pointy edge, but I have not figured out how to not have it look this way!