It feels like a miracle. This past week between my photographer (husband) and myself, we managed to capture nearly every phase of my progress on my current WIP (Work in Progress) “Hydrangea”. This post will be more image and caption versus philosophy. I have just one personal observation to make. There is no right or wrong way to create an art quilt. Each project suggests the steps to take and in what order. Even so, each step is a decision. It can feel like chess strategy, a move now and how it is responded to, impacts future moves and decisions.
I printed my reference photo in black and white to the scale of the finished piece (12″ x 12″). I used Golden Threads Quilting Paper to trace the general outline placement of the hydrangea, imaging how each bloom might finish off quilt. The tracing is overlaid on the quilt sandwich. Since I want my quilt to finish at exactly 12″ x 12″ all five layers (top to bottom: top, fusible web, batting, fusible web, backing) are cut to 15″ x 15″. This allows for shrinkage from the quilting and gives me something to hold on to as I quilt close to the outer perimeter. You may not have been able to see the tracing in the last photograph, but you can now that I have stitched the hydrangea outline for reference. This line of stitching tells me approximately where to quilt the free motion leaf motif versus where I will build up the hydrangea blossoms. BTW the reason I love Golden Thread Paper for this is because it tears away easily without breaking the stitching or leaving many teeny tiny pieces of paper under the stitching to be picked out. When you find a product that works for you – stick with it!I didn’t take a picture of the quilting. It has been done. I like to do background quilting before adding 3D embellishments, which is what the hydrangea petals will be. It also made sense this time to square up my quilt and face it first. This image shows the facing with hanging corners stitched to the front.The facing as been turned towards the outside of the quilt, then stay stitched. This helps keep the facing from being visible from the front of the quilt.The facing has been turned to the back of the quilt. I had enough time to make a few hydrangea petals and get a feel of how they would look on the quilt.This image shows a detail of the quilting and petals.
