Jan 19 09
Making Time for a Quickie
I have felt so pressed for time lately…we are getting ready to begin shooting the next DVD and I have about a million things that need to be completed in the next couple of days in order to make that happen. On top of that, I committed to making a donation valentine for the Cloth Fiber Workshop in Asheville, North Carolina, and it is due by THIS SATURDAY!!!! I am not someone to leave anything to the last minute, so on the rare occasions when something like this happens, I totally FREAK OUT! Today was the only time this week that I could put any time into this project, so I put my nose to the grindstone and got it done! “Share the Love” is 15 x 18 inches:
I still have to finish sewing on the binding by hand and it’s not a piece that I’m feeling particularly proud of, but I AM proud of the fact that I got this baby cranked out in one afternoon and it’s now something that I can officially cross off my to-do list! Cloth Fiber Workshop is holding a valentine auction to help raise some funds in this tough economic climate, so if you’re interested in helping to support fiber arts and you want to pick up some neat textile art, check out their auction later this month.
I recently got an email from Stacey, who asked that I post more info about the threads that I use in different pieces, so here goes! Here’s a close up of one of the grapevine curly cues on this quilt:
Can you tell that they are shown here when this was just a quilt top? That’s because I embroidered them (free motion, of course!) so that they would kind of pop out once it was in the final quilt. Here’s a closeup after the quilting was done, for comparison. (note that the color here is washed out-I turned the flash off because I thought it showed texture better without it):
Don’t you want to touch that curly cue? I sure do! That was stitched in a wool/silk blend thread made by the Thread Gatherer. It’s HEAVY and BIG and very soft! I bought a skein of it at a counted cross stitch shop that was going out of business a few years back and haven’t seen it anywhere since. BUT, you can buy the same kind of thing if you buy from the Caron Collection:
I used a size 100 topstitch needle and had a medium weight green cotton thread in the bobbin. I placed a temporary iron-on stabilizer on the back and then stitched away. I don’t use a hoop when I do this type of free motion embroidery because it’s not densely stitched and the iron on stabilizer seems to stretch everything out just fine for me. Here’s a shot of the back when the first 2 were stitched:
Once all the grapevines were stitched, I tore away the stabilizer. I added trapunto only to the 3 large hearts and the 2 teardrops. Once the edges of those were stitched with the EKG finishing stitch, I cut away the excess batting. Here’s what the backside looked like just before I threw this baby into its final quilt sandwich:
I zipped around the outer perimeters of the applique shapes and the grapevine curly cues with invisible thread and then I switched to decorative threads for the rest of the quilting. I used YLI “Variegations” for the background quilting. This is their line of trilobal polyester variegated threads and I’ll tell you, they are a breeze to quilt with. I have gone through about 5 spools of the green variegated version called “grass!” Here’s a final close up of some of the quilting:
Thank you for being so generous in sharing your information, especially when you are so hard pressed for time. I love the Caron threads but have only used them for hand embroidery so far – not any more!
[…] Patsy Thompson Designs, Ltd. » Making Time for a Quickie Here’s what the backside looked like just before I threw this baby into its final quilt sandwich:. I zipped around the outer perimeters of the applique shapes and the grapevine curly … […]
I just want to commend your production staff on the wonderful effects in your latest youtube video. I really want one of those “ankles,” but wow, what a dynamic job. Keep up the fabulous work!
You are so awesome Patsy! Sharing all this info that everybody else would probably just charge for or at least not go into detail as you do. I love looking at your wonderful stitching work! I just finished a new mixed media wall hanging…it’s a bit different for me but I really felt more of “Carol” in it…Will you be at FAA next week? Hope so!
Your piece is beautiful that you have in the auction!