Apr 06 11
“Night & Day” Quilt
Ok, I’ve got a new quilt for you, and this one was totally fun to make, from start to finish! Because the blocks are so complementary, I call it “Night & Day:”
These are large blocks because these are large appliqued feathered wreaths. Here’s a shot of the lighter blue background with the dark wreath:
…and here’s a closeup of the darker blue background with the lighter blue wreath:
The background quilting was the rudimentary version of “Plumify It” from “Fast and Free, Volume 3.” It is basically a continuous line plume design where you are randomly stitching plumes in any direction, and because it’s a plume-based design, it will always complement a feather applique quilt. I really wanted the focus to be on those intricate applique shapes, so the quilting needed to be pretty much unnoticed. To help keep it subtle, I quilted it with Invisifil thread by Wonderfil. This is a very lightweight thread (100 wt), even lighter weight than Bottom Line (60 weight.) In this next closeup, look at the stitching that’s just inside the edges of the appliqued feathers:
To me, that is functional stitching that’s necessary from a construction standpoint, not decorative stitching. Because of that, I used Invisifil there and you really don’t notice it unless you’re looking for it. (That’s why they call it “Invisifil!”)
You may be wondering how you make a quilt like this and it’s surprisingly easy! You choose how large you want your wreath to be and then lightly trace a circle that is the starting point from which you’ll flow both the inner and outer plumes. Because you’ll need to fuse your applique shapes down with an iron and you don’t want to touch an iron to chalk or a soapstone marker (it will permanently set the mark-ask me how I know this!), you’ll want to use special types of markers like these soap pencils. If you look at this closeup, you’ll get a better sense of how all I’ve done is to lay these plumes and feathers so they just come off an imaginary circle:
What makes the wreath more interesting is the negative space that flows between the outer feathers and the inside plumes…so cool! The cutting dies to cut these applique shapes will be available soon, but in the meantime, we’ve got something to let you try your hand at using these appliques. The “Night & Day” fabric kits contain everything you need except the backing fabric, and it includes the pre-fused and pre-cut applique feather and plume shapes! If you’ve been on the fence about buying a fabric cutting system to cut out intricate fusible applique shapes like these, then this kit will give you the chance to work with these intricate shapes to see just how easy and fun it is to work with die-cut fused applique shapes. You can find them in the store right here!
This quilt, and Dancing Feather Star, are both glorious, for both the applique and the quilting. You manage to keep it relatively simple, but intricate enough to make it stand out. (Does that make sense?)
Fabulous!!!!
On close-up looks like you stitched inside and outside each plume design….did you break thread each time??? That would be an awful lot of thread breaks!!! But that’s what it looks like… hmmmmm…curious minds want to know.
Patsy your quilts always come out so beautiful. I love the Day and Night that was so clever of you to do it that way.
I am never disappointed when I come to your website. Thanks for sharing
I feel the same way, I really look forward to logging onto your blog and check it every day just in case you get carried away and put up more entries than usual. I love the look of these plumes and feathers, great work and imagination. Cheers Pamela
Patsy wrote “you’ll need to fuse your applique shapes down with an iron and you don’t want to touch an iron to chalk or a soapstone marker (it will permanently set the mark-ask me how I know this!)”
Have you tried the Pilot Frixion Erasable Pens ? Heat makes their marks vanish, feezing makes them return, and washing gets rid of them for ever.