It's All a Process....

I've missed you guys!  It seems like forever since I've taken the time to sit down and share and chat with you for a bit :)  November and December are pretty much my time to lock myself in my sewing room and get ready for all of you next year.  On top of all of this, I've been working on a very special project and wanted to share my process.

I always take pictures of my quilts from the very beginning.  I can go back later, or even during the process, and see how far I've come...that I've really made progress...this quilt is one of those. I will share at a later date who this is for and the reason for it's creation.

The design for this was inspired by the future recipient's work...I made it my own.  I have a great drafting table that is lined with 1" gridwork.  I've covered this with a large sheet of clear vinyl.  I can draw on the clear vinyl with a dry erase marker...if I don't like something I just have to swipe it with my finger and the bad line is gone.  Great way to design and it doesn't waste a lot of paper.  Paper patterns can be taped to the paper underneath and the designing can take place on the vinyl.

Once the design is figured out, the fabric and thread come into play.  VERY important choices in wholecloth quilting.  The fabric is a beautiful Dupioni silk that was purchased on an all day shopping trip with a good friend so it already had good "ju-ju".  These were my first choices in threads but I never warmed up to the orange...just not my color.  I ended up with four different shades of gold Kimono Silk (Superior Threads) for all the shading.

Before actually quilting a piece, I always try to have extra fabric to audition ideas and threads...a very good idea this time!  The quilting is soooo tiny it is impossible to rip any stitches out.  Anything I do has to stay...period.  That's a lot of pressure!  I auditioned backgrounds, threads, etc.  I finally ended up with a matching Kimono silk for a repetitive line fill.  The gold squares took a lot of time to figure out and I ended up with three different shades going from light to dark.  I'm very, very tired of quilting little squares about now.

It has taken me over six weeks just to get to this point.  The quilt is only 30"-ish square but it is filled with repetitive lines about 1/8-1/16" apart...the main designs in the middle are only 1/4" wide in the channels.  oie.  But...it's working!  I only have one more corner that I have to add the last shade of gold and then it's off to be blocked.

Once this is blocked I am going to add the beautiful heavy threads and beads on the top.  This is when it will all come together...finally.  It looks a bit flat at the moment but once the heavy silks, Razzle Dazzle and beadwork is done it will pop.

On top of working on this every morning I've been rewriting all of my handbooks, creating new feather and background designs and creating loads of new class samples...as if I didn't have enuf already!    For those of you who have purchased the $10 updates to your purchased handbooks, you should be receiving all new books hopefully by the end of January.  For those of you who haven't purchased updates you can do that at any time...just go to the handbook section of my website, pay your $10, and then email me at:  linenqltr@comcast.net and let me know which classes you've taken or which workbooks you've purchased and I'll add you to my list.  So far I'm on handbook #5 out of 8 so I'm making progress!

I want to thank each and every one of you for making this year so special...I've either joined you personally in the classroom...joined you via the internet in my Craftsy classroom...snugged in with you  at one of my retreats...or you've joined me on my blogs.  Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of YOUR life...I've certainly been blessed having you in MINE.  Have a very Merry Christmas and let those that are special to you know how much you love them.

Big Hugs, Cindy :)