I am in the middle of indulging in 10 whole days at home and am loving every moment of it...Usually when I'm home I'm scrambling to unpack and repack for the next engagement and rarely get time to quilt like a normal person. This week I've indulged in quilting each and every morning like I used to...up around
3:30-4 :00 am with my hot tea, jammies and a beautiful quilt in my machine. What a fabulous way to start my day!
I have three pieces I want to have for next year...two linen wholecloth quilts and one "regular" wholecloth. Some of you may have seen me posting about the "Little Yellow Quilt" that was completed in January. I enjoyed doing that one so much I wanted to do another. This is another miniature and I got my design from a Dover book on old architecture. My top fabric is a beautiful, smooth green Dupioni silk and the back is a hand-dyed Radiance. I've made up a sample block to test out tensions and threads and I think I have a keeper. The block is 5" square. I am using full thickness wool batting and a pink Superior Threads' Kimono Silk.
Very anxious to get this one started but the very tedious task of tracing the design on my light table usually finds me sound asleep within 30 minutes of starting...mind you I don't start working on this until about 8:30 at night :)
I shared the beginning of this particular quilt just a bit ago...this was a gift from my friend Karen. I was very intimidated by this because there is such an incredible amount of work that will be required to finish this. I've learned early on to NEVER look at the big picture...it's pretty scary. Instead I focus on just one little bit or part and give myself a High Five when I get that little part done...then go on to the next.
I started out using a Topstitch 80/12 and Kimono Silk thread...after blowing about 5 needles I moved up to the 90/14 and started using So Fine..both from Superior threads. Fortunately my last choices are working much better. I quilted in some fine details in the scrolls and it didn't look very good or even show up for that matter. I found that filling in parts with heavy textured quilting it did SO much better and actually provided some much needed movement.
These are some before/after pictures...one thing that bothered me about this piece was the lack of shadow. I'm always telling my students they need a combination of sunshine AND shadow in their quilts...this one didn't have any. Look at the difference some ditching and heavy quilting makes!
I also found a huge hank of some fabulous beads at the antique store...the entire quilt will have these added but they will be especially heavy in the middle.
I am always loving using "different" fabrics for my quilting...I love to experiment just to see what it's going to do. I indulged in some expensive creamy heavy wool yardage at my quilt store recently not knowing what I was going to do with it. Well...it became the back of this piece and OH MY...is it ever coming out pretty!
This will create a heavy, more stiff quilt but I am very excited about the back. Very, very nice!
All for now...Hugs, Cindy :)
9 comments:
If you only knew how close my nose was to the monitor! I actually had to go from my tablet to the desktop to see the pictures in a larger frame. Oh my. You've really got it going. And your "regular" wholecloth - whoo boy - is it going to be a stunner. And then there's the wool back - you really rock it!
Is there something about linen quilts that causes that sleep issue? I have been getting up ungodly early since I started working on linen... LOL! Kathleen
Cindy, your work is stunning. It is always fun to see how you are going to create it "differently." You always come up with new and clever ways of stitching your fabulous pieces. You are always an inspiration. Thanks for what you continue to do. Enjoy your time off. 3:30 a.m. Ouch!!!
I wish I could see one in real life. It looks like first you do cutwork/battenburg lace kind of stuff on the linen, then back with another fabric, then quilted with the wool bat and backing? Very sumptuous, and I've been enjoying seeing your stuff on the internet for a while now. I'll bet your classes are great.
gorgeous! I was in Tacoma last weekend for the quilt show and was drooling over your display. Oh I wish I'd been able to take class with you!
Thanks so much for sharing. Your work is inspirational. AND BEAUTIFUL!
Your posts always inspire.
Your display at the Pacific West Quilt Show was awesome, as expected. Viewers eyeballs were springing out of their heads like cartoon characters just to see them up close and personal!
It was great to see you for a second, too. Sorry to crash your class.
The alabama stalker . . .
Cindy, it's beautifull!!! I can't wait to see the finished quilt. Looking forward to seeing you in Dec for the class.
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