Apr 09 09
Plugging Away on a New Quilt and Book Give-Away Winner Announced!
I’ve been plugging away on 2 Amish quilts that I made during the filming of the next DVD on feathers. All of the really intricate stuff on them has been done for several weeks, but I realized that I never went back and quilted the outer 2 borders. Yikes! This stuff needs to be completely done for spring quilt market next month, so I need to get myself focused! Here’s a shot of the first one; it’s totally done and bound:
I like this one because it’s got a number of interesting hyperquilting designs, but I was in a huge rush to quilt the borders and I didn’t do as neat of a job as I would have liked. Here’s a shot of part of the second quilt:
This one has 5 other hyperquilting designs in those wreaths, but I threw in a jazzy spine design for the inner border. This design is what I call the “bicycle chain spine.†That name really doesn’t do it justice because it’s a lovely, flowing, intricate design. You can stitch it using the same color thread as the plumes like this one:
…or you can use one thread for the spine and a different thread for the plumes, which is what I did in this quilt’s border.
Either way, you begin by marking a nice curve for the spine guideline and in the first phase, you stitch out your bicycle chain spine:
(This part is actually easier than it looks, as long as you keep honoring the curve of that chalk line). In the next step, you begin stitching at the base of one side and you throw on the plumes on that side, including that very last plume at the tip:
Can you tell that the challenge in this design is stitching your plumes up against an irregular spine edge? When I first started doing this design and others like it, that really threw me, but somehow, it gets easier the more I do it. Once that first side is done, you go back to the base and throw the plumes along the opposite side. I think this makes for a very showy feather!
I just started the outer border today, so it’s not done yet. This is a free-form feather but I’ve taken the spine guideline totally to the edge of the border on both sides. (It’s hard to tell now, but the space on the outer edge isn’t really there as it will be consumed by binding).
When you stitch a feather border in this fashion, it alters the look of the feather because there are places where one side will have no plumes. It’s an interesting look. I’ll probably go back and hyperquilt this once I’m done…I mean I kind of HAVE to, since it’s a hyperquilting sampler and all! Here’s one last shot-this is one of the corners:
And now for that drumroll moment…the winner of the Applique book giveaway is:
THEARICA BURROWS from Henderson, NC! Congrats, Thearica, and I hope you enjoy it!
YAY!!! Thanks so much for the book! I cannot believe I won but I am so excited that I did!!
I LOVE your quilt!! and now am more excited than ever for the 2nd DVD! 🙂
Spectacular quilting! Wow.
Wow! This is gorgeous! Another DVD is on my wish list now ….
Wow – I am slobbering and salivating all over my keyboard at the sights of all these lines and threads. Just gorgeous!
I love the way you mix your quilting designs for one unified look. I can start quilting a design but can’t figure out what to do around that design. The wreaths and background quilting are lovely.
Oh so beautiful! I just love your work and feel so blessed you are located in Northwest Ohio, close to home. I can’t wait to purchase my next DVD. Blessings, Jenna Louise
A gorgeous quilt and congratulations to the book winner.
I love it! It is leaving me breathless.
Patsy, you’ve gone and done it again! Superb work, even for a sampler! *grin*
I’m adding your next DVD to my list too!
-Alice
I will definitely be checking back for bone marrow info. I bought your starter pack of CD’s at Quilt Market and have now watched the intro CD. Can’t wait to share with my customers at The Quilter’s Ranch in Tempe, AZ!