Last day of the month and I had hoped to have another quilt completed. However, I'm still fighting a bug which has slowed me down. Still, I am pretty close to having my Palouse hills piece done. I finally gave up on the hand quilting, and as machine quilting, my original thread choice (a Valdani hand-dyed thread) worked pretty well. But I could not eye-ball the contour lines to my satisfaction. As I threatened early on, I pinned my tracing paper pattern to the front and stitched along the penciled lines. Really takes the pressure off for me. Downside of course is the time it takes to remove all that paper.
And did I say I was going to put more stitch in my work this year? Yes I did and this piece has it! All those thread tails had to be pulled to the back and tied off though, a time consuming job but it simply would not look good doing the pull the bobbin thread to the top and take tiny stitches to lock. This is a slightly heavier thread for one thing and I've tried that method with it on another quilt - not a good look. Once that was done, I couched an Oliver Twist hand-dyed rayon braid along the outline of the hills.
Because I will be attaching this to a pre-made "mount" all those thread tails pulled to the back did not have to be buried, than goodness. I'd still probably be working on that! Rather than regular batting, I used a synthetic felt made from recycled pop bottles (which made me feel slightly better about not using a natural fiber). I was afraid that regular batting might beard through the weave of the silk. I thought I would get a little dimension, especially with the machine quilting, but the surface of the quilt is very flat. Not really an issue with this piece and its atypical fabric choice.
Today I carefully folded back the top so I could trim up the felt to square and trimmed the top fabric about half an inch larger. That extra was turned to the back and glue basted in place to create a clean edge finish. The mounting fabrics and decor bond that will stabilize them are cut, so with any luck, I can put the finishing touches on this piece tomorrow.
And did I say I was going to put more stitch in my work this year? Yes I did and this piece has it! All those thread tails had to be pulled to the back and tied off though, a time consuming job but it simply would not look good doing the pull the bobbin thread to the top and take tiny stitches to lock. This is a slightly heavier thread for one thing and I've tried that method with it on another quilt - not a good look. Once that was done, I couched an Oliver Twist hand-dyed rayon braid along the outline of the hills.
Because I will be attaching this to a pre-made "mount" all those thread tails pulled to the back did not have to be buried, than goodness. I'd still probably be working on that! Rather than regular batting, I used a synthetic felt made from recycled pop bottles (which made me feel slightly better about not using a natural fiber). I was afraid that regular batting might beard through the weave of the silk. I thought I would get a little dimension, especially with the machine quilting, but the surface of the quilt is very flat. Not really an issue with this piece and its atypical fabric choice.
Today I carefully folded back the top so I could trim up the felt to square and trimmed the top fabric about half an inch larger. That extra was turned to the back and glue basted in place to create a clean edge finish. The mounting fabrics and decor bond that will stabilize them are cut, so with any luck, I can put the finishing touches on this piece tomorrow.
1 comment:
I really like those contour lines -- very sinuous.
Post a Comment