Some Progress!
My wrist is doing better and I’m now out of the splint during waking hours, so I was able to get back to my large flower blocks. What I’m showing you here is just a single block with a trapunto layer; I’ll be able to get more depth/texture once this quilt is actually pieced and I quilt around each part of every applique shape with invisible thread. I quilted the center with pebbling and then made this doodle-design in that first row of petals. This design is not rooted in reality, but since these are made up “fantasy flowers,” I’m kind of looking at this as if pretty much anything goes! Next up, I just did the EKG edge finishing design in the next row of petals:
I used a solid color 40 wt rayon thread in a related color but one that didn’t match. Since the edge finishing design was the only stitching in that zone of petals, I needed to do something that would show. I was pretty stumped on that last row of big petals. I started out by stitching some vein lines:
Whoa…talk about a dud of a design! This just seemed totally boring to me! I ended up in-lining the veins with gold rayon thread (24 karat gold by Robison-Anton). Once this quilt is in the final quilt sandwich, I’ll stitch just outside those vein lines with invisible thread and this will make the veins protrude outward and it will look much more interesting. I also did the EKG edge finishing design along the inside of the leaves and used a not-so-contrasty olive green thread. Because there was so much action in those large petals, I didn’t want to overdue things with the edge finishing:
And here’s what the backside of this block looked like when I finished:
The best part of this was that I was able to empty 7 bobbins with small amounts of thread when I embellished this block with thread work! That’s another upside to trapunto… since no one will see the backside, it’s a good place to use up those bobbins that have so little thread they’re a nuisance. It’s always so invigorating to empty out a bobbin, but 7 in one afternoon…sweet!
