One of the things I wanted to wrap up this week was Jockeying for Space, but I ran into a snag. When last you saw it, I was ready to attached it to a batik background and wrap it over a 12 x 12 stretched canvas (see here). I measured around the frame to determine how big to cut the batik, applied Decor Bond to stabilize it, centered the quilt on it and stitched it down with a narrow zigzag stitch with monofilament thread. Next came couching the two slightly twisted together yarns using the same thread and a slightly wider zigzag stitch.
This is where things started to go downhill. The couching flattened the yarns more than I expected, making their twisting look quite different than my audition of them. It was difficult but important to follow the arcing curve of the edge of the quilt, but I had not factored in the slubbiness of the sari yarn which did not maintain that smooth arc on the inner most visible edge. When I pulled it out of the machine, not only was I disappointed that the yarn did not read as strongly as I thought it would, I was also disappointed that the arcs had flattened out a bit.
But I was determined to get this done, so I began wrapping the piece around the frame, using small tacks partly inserted until I was sure things were centered properly. When I flipped it over, the quilted part looked uncomfortable in the 12" space; not enough batik showing around it. My overriding thought was that it need more breathing space! I had some 14" stretcher bars put together, but had already determined that was a bit too much batik showing. Besides, I hadn't allowed enough extra when I cut the batik to wrap around 14" stretcher bars. But maybe, just maybe, I could add a little strip all around to make it work.
In reality, I knew what I needed was 13" bars to stretch it around. As I recall, this was the size I'd determined I needed back when I first went looking for bars or stretched canvas. But none was to be found. 13 is just an odd size not available, at least not at the sources I checked. I laid the piece out on the table and masked it off with strips of paper to see how the 13" size would look, glancing at it now and then as I worked on other things. Then I upped it to 14" and did the same. You wouldn't think an extra 1/2 on a side would make that much difference, but to my eye, 13 just looked better than 12 or 14.
So I reluctantly went to plan B - wrapping it over foam core board and putting it in a frame. I did NOT want this one framed, but sometimes you just have to give it up. I cut a 13" square of the board and pulled the piece around to the back, temporarily securing it with tape, and leaned it up against the wall as you see above. Decided I needed to live with it for a few days to be sure this is what I wanted and that there wasn't something else I needed to do to the piece before final framing. This merely enforced my desire to have it unframed. Sigh...
An art quilter friend called that night, so I had a chance to grouse about this, especially the fact that she had a husband who could make custom size frames and stretcher bars for her and that of course I had to make a piece needing a custom size. I heard some paper rustling in the background and then she was reciting out of a catalog to me - a source for 13" stretcher bars! So last night I did a web search and was amazed to find many sources of 13" stretcher bars, plus a source for 14" x 14" stretched canvas - another item I'd not had luck finding previously.
So quandary is over. I'll order my supplies and soon have Jockeying for Space ready to hang on the wall.
This is where things started to go downhill. The couching flattened the yarns more than I expected, making their twisting look quite different than my audition of them. It was difficult but important to follow the arcing curve of the edge of the quilt, but I had not factored in the slubbiness of the sari yarn which did not maintain that smooth arc on the inner most visible edge. When I pulled it out of the machine, not only was I disappointed that the yarn did not read as strongly as I thought it would, I was also disappointed that the arcs had flattened out a bit.
But I was determined to get this done, so I began wrapping the piece around the frame, using small tacks partly inserted until I was sure things were centered properly. When I flipped it over, the quilted part looked uncomfortable in the 12" space; not enough batik showing around it. My overriding thought was that it need more breathing space! I had some 14" stretcher bars put together, but had already determined that was a bit too much batik showing. Besides, I hadn't allowed enough extra when I cut the batik to wrap around 14" stretcher bars. But maybe, just maybe, I could add a little strip all around to make it work.
In reality, I knew what I needed was 13" bars to stretch it around. As I recall, this was the size I'd determined I needed back when I first went looking for bars or stretched canvas. But none was to be found. 13 is just an odd size not available, at least not at the sources I checked. I laid the piece out on the table and masked it off with strips of paper to see how the 13" size would look, glancing at it now and then as I worked on other things. Then I upped it to 14" and did the same. You wouldn't think an extra 1/2 on a side would make that much difference, but to my eye, 13 just looked better than 12 or 14.
So I reluctantly went to plan B - wrapping it over foam core board and putting it in a frame. I did NOT want this one framed, but sometimes you just have to give it up. I cut a 13" square of the board and pulled the piece around to the back, temporarily securing it with tape, and leaned it up against the wall as you see above. Decided I needed to live with it for a few days to be sure this is what I wanted and that there wasn't something else I needed to do to the piece before final framing. This merely enforced my desire to have it unframed. Sigh...
An art quilter friend called that night, so I had a chance to grouse about this, especially the fact that she had a husband who could make custom size frames and stretcher bars for her and that of course I had to make a piece needing a custom size. I heard some paper rustling in the background and then she was reciting out of a catalog to me - a source for 13" stretcher bars! So last night I did a web search and was amazed to find many sources of 13" stretcher bars, plus a source for 14" x 14" stretched canvas - another item I'd not had luck finding previously.
So quandary is over. I'll order my supplies and soon have Jockeying for Space ready to hang on the wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment