Jun 17 11
Slow Progress on New Dancing Feather Quilt and Fabric Extravaganza!
I haven’t had much time for quilting this last week, but I’ve started working on my new quilt. First up, I did straight stitching in free motion mode just inside the edges of all the feathers:
This is functional stitching, not decorative, so my goal is to not draw attention to that stitched line. Because of that, I use very lightweight threads for this kind of work, like Invisifil or Bottom Line, in a closely matched solid color. Next up, I outlined all edges of the flower applique shapes in the block centers with Monopoly invisible thread by Superior Threads:
(You can’t see the thread that outlines the flower parts…that’s why they call it invisible!) My goal in the next part was to try to carry the feather curves into the quilting design, so the applique and quilting around the applique would read as “one design.” It’s still too early to tell if this will work, but here’s how I started out:
I marked a curve in soap (that’s the white line in the photo above) that would be the spine guideline for short feathers that would flow from between each of the applique feathers. The curve echoes only the upper curve of the applique feathers, since the available space for quilting won’t allow me to echo the entire feather. Here’s a really terrible shot of what this looks like before any background quilting is added:
I’m not wild about this so far, but I’m not going to let that get to me yet. I think it will take on a better look once all 4 blocks are done and the background quilting has been added. For the very center, I cut a thin cardboard version of the center feathers with my Sizzix machine, and I’m laying it between the 4 feather “pinwheels” to trace the shape:
…and here’s what one of those center feathers looks like after it’s been stitched:
I’ve got a long way to go, but this has been a fun quilt to work on so far. And some great news on the storefront…beginning today, all fabric in our online store is discounted 10% off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, from the day that bolt of fabric arrives at our warehouse. These are tough economic times and this is our way of trying to help out fellow quilters. We’ve got about 1000 bolts of batiks in stock now, with more on the way!
How do you mark with soap?
Your blog is such a great tutorial. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing your process on this quilt!
I know the final outcome will be beautiful as always.
[…] Slow Progress on New Dancing Feather Quilt and Fabric Extravaganza! […]
Your quilt looks great so far! One thing about quilting–we’re always learning 🙂 Hope you’re having a nice weekend!
Lovely colors Patsy!
wow, that’s pretty. So…do you always use the same pattern of quilting ALL OVER the entire quilt or can you change types of quilting as you go? Eg. would you have some diagonal lines and then free-motion in a different area? Just wondering…