Embroidered Applique Beauty

This lovely 54" embroidered applique quilt came off the frame today.  I expected to have finished it yesterday, but sometimes these things have a mind of their own.  I turned out fabulously gorgeous, and I am loving it so much.

 I have been trying my best to make a productive afternoon of things, but the wasteful and mind-sucking sitting around waiting for the Houston award announcements to trickle down is making a complete wasteland of my afternoon.  I managed to quilt half of a sample I need for an upcoming magazine article, but turned the machine off because I was too distracted.  I figured I'd get this blog post written as I just putter and wait for the kids to get home.  We are having a rogue 95F day, when all in the last 2 weeks have barely topped 75, so I just cannot get motivated to go snip my gardens or exercise.

This quilt has a single layer of Hobbs wool batting.  The client has requested thinner threads, not wanting to see the buildup of thread.   I used Madiera Monolon to outline the embroideries.  I just don't get why so many quilters turn their nose up at using clear thread.  That crap just runs in any direction, and never quits.  It is EASY!  Digressing... The detail quilting of the center frame and the curved cross-hatching on the sides of the quilt are done with a 40wt Glide.  This is probably heavier than she had in mind, but I wanted these areas to show, and I chose a teal thread that would show on both the aqua and on the purple.  The look of it showing on one and disappearing on the other is not what I wanted.  I also made that central frame with triple parallel lines, so it was prominent.  The fill for the aqua sections is a pale aqua Bottomline (60wt), while the purple areas were done in a matching purple Invisifil (100wt).  Yes, I know they are different weights, but I chose what I had that blended best, and seriously, there's so little difference in the weight of 60wt and 100wt.

The center turned out just lovely.  I should note that the arched frames are stitched using the medium size double-S template by Ronda Beyer.  This is one of my all-time favorite templates.  I have never used it for cross-hatching, but it makes nice framework.  There are small dots, and they tie in with dots placed in other locations on the quilt.  Each purple block is done the same with a feathered wreath, a small section of pebbles and some echo quilting.

 The embroidered wreaths have curved cross-hatching, and my free-hand, free-form feathers around them.

 One issue I ran into was inadequate backing fabric on the sides of the quilt.  I had only about 2" per side.  As a result, I had to modify my initial design plan for how I was going to quilt the sides.  I ended up stitching more of the free-form feathers in the aqua, and it looks nice and cohesive.

Here's to hoping that my client enjoys this as much as I do!  Have a quilty week~