Layering
Layering season is here, at least where we live just outside of Boston. Today is the first morning that I awoke to freezing temperatures. We keep our home cool in order to do our small bit against global warming. I cope by doning a minimum of four layers and sometimes as many as six. It reminds me of when our, now in their forties, children were young. Such an undertaking to get them dressed to head outside and play in the snow.
Bernina 990 Progress
Last week I shared the start of my latest thread painting.
It was the perfect demo piece during my open studios. Visitors were fascinated to see an in-progress piece. It only took me two more days to go from the image above to the image below.
The zinnia and monarch butterfly were created by threading painting. I created the remaining embroidery using the designs included on my Bernina 990. Of course, I changed up the colors to relate to the thread painting portion. Finally, I finished it off with a quick small stippling stitch to push the embroidery forward and allow the background to recede. This tiny quilt, now known as A Dance Among the Flowers, will be wrapped around an 8″ x 8″ x 1.5″ canvas frame.
Quilts are all about layering. Of course, there is the top, batting and backing. What challenges me and fascinates me is the layer of image, embellishment and quilting. How do you put together so many elements form a cohesive piece?
Staying Warm
If you have been following my posts, you know the SEDOSO plans to eat a dessert every day in November, in order to honor his birthday month. He interprets this plan fairly loosely. These past few days he is indulging in an apple and pear crisp. Naturally it is served hot with freshly whipped cream. Now that’s what I call layering.
Rainbow Scrap Challenge
My 2024 Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt was another crowd pleaser during the open studio. It got rave reviews.
Question of the Week
What layering do you look forward to and what layering challenges you?
I’m linking up to the following posts:
Out here on the rolling Alberta prairie we’ve been layering for a while. The ground is layered with leaves, the flower beds are layered with leaves as mulch, and by the end of today all will be layered with The First Snow of the Year. Yes, it’ll probably melt before it returns for good, but that’s just Mother Nature’s way of trying to figure out what to wear next!
I was thinking of you, Margaret, as I wrote this post. I can see you knitting away in preparation for Christmas. Hopefully, we are at least a month away from our first snow. That being said, I miss the snows of my youth and early adulthood. We used to get 60″ – 100″ of snow per season. Now we are lucky to 6″ total from December through April.
love the quilt. No way could I layer 6 tops I’d feel stifled I guess. We keep our home at 68 degrees daytime 66 night but live in the middle of Arkansas – next week it will be cold meaning 27 at night for two nights and 40-50 daytime and then back to the 40’s at night and 50-70 daytime and it will be like that most of November. Outside in winter I will grab a sweatshirt or sweater to go from the house to the car to the store but only wear a winter jacket maybe a total of one month in winter.
Yes, it can feel a tad stiff wearing so many layers. But I get used to it. Our home is 64 during the day and 58 at night. It also has radiant heat through out. Less drying. However, it takes hours to heat up. At the same time it takes hours to cool off. Learning when to turn up or turn down the thermostats is an on going adventure. A difference between winter in Arkansas and Massachusetts is how many winter jackets I have. I have 3 primary ones. Each takes me another 15 to 20 degrees colder. The full length down coat is for the frigid days. It was an essential when we lived in Wisconsin.
still hoping for colder weather here in Colorado. It’s been hot to me, 4 years ago a switch flipped and our coldest weather near Denver stopped. When we moved here it snowed by Halloween. Not it might not snow til after Christmas in Aurora, we still have highs near 80. Air temp might say high 70’s but the sun superheats that in real life. Projected next week too. I’m a fan of cold temps a big reason we moved here. Love wearing layers of clothes
Climate change has resulted in significant shifts in typical weather. I grew up in Lexington, MA, home of the Revolution and just 8 miles west of Boston. We always had a few blizzards every year. The average snow fall between 60″ and 100″ annually. Very rarely did temps drop below zero or go over 90. No we are lucky to get 6 inches of snow, temps rarely go below 10 and but frequently hit 90 and above. Like you, I miss the snow. At least here are highs are in the 50s most days now. Hopefully, your temps will drop soon.
Your butterfly is lovely, and how great to see your RSC laying on the bed, such a beautiful quilt. No doubt it was one of the highlights of the show. Hmmm, yummy sweet layers in this plate 😉 I feel the cold easily and, like you, I wear several layers of clothing. These are not the layers I look forward to, because they mean that winter is here!
Thank you for sharing your creative process and linking up.
Butterflies frequently feature in my work. They are symbols of hope and rebirth. I’m glad you find them lovely. Yes, the crisp is delicious. I believe an apple pie might be made today. Good t hear from you.
Sounds like your Open Studio went well, Gwyned! I, too, would be fascinated by your thread painting and enjoy seeing the 2024 RSC quilt. It’s definitely layering season in the area of Colorado where I live. We keep our house fairly cool, too. I’m getting out all my fleece pullovers!
‘Tis the season. Soon it will be January, my favorite month to hunker down with some hand stitching in my lap. I feel productive, while also keeping warm. Fleece pullovers are great, aren’t they.
I tend to get excited when I can wear jeans and a sweatshirt when walking the dog in Florida! We have a layer of pine needles on the ground in the fall, which I rake and sweep into the chicken run in case rain makes it muddy. I do miss the sweaters and winter coats of the north, and only get to wear them a few days during the winter months down here. We get a possible freeze at 32 overnight on Mon/Tues before it warms up to 80’s again. Your A dance among the flowers is stunning.
Yes, Florida is quite a different climate from Massachusetts. Fingers crossed all the fruit trees do OK with the colder overnight temperature.
Thanks for the thumbs up on A Dance Among the Flowers. I had fun combining my thread painting with Bernina embroidery patterns.
Dance Among the Flowers is beautiful! You have fully embraced the challenge of a new machine and are the winner for it. There are so many lovely pictures on today’s post, from the fluttering butterfly to the wonderful 2024 RSC quilt.
Here in northern Indiana, we also keep our house cool. We haven’t turned on the main furnace yet, we’re making do with the gas fireplace. There are clothing layers during the day while at night the electric mattress pad is in use in addition to flannel sheets, a blanket, a quilt and a comforter to top it all off.
Blessings and happy stitching!
I love our open plan home, but it doesn’t allow for heating with the gas fire place only. Darn, or we would probably follow your lead. I do use the fireplace during the winter when I do yoga. Turn it off part way through if it is a rigorous work out.
So pleased you enjoyed the photos. I’m certainly enjoying the world of embroidery that has been opened up to me with my new machine.
Because my body doesn’t regulate temp correctly, I layer all year long! In the summer, it’s with thin sweaters, then they get increasingly thicker in the fall. Soon I’ll be in fleece pullovers most days. And with a space heater in my studio. (eye roll)
The 2024 finish is just gorgeous! I’ve so enjoyed following the journey with you & it’s a fantastic finish. Your thread painting is fab!
Seems inevitable as the years pile up that so do our layers. Just as we keep the house cool in the winter. I am judicious with the AC. So, rarely need to layer during the summer, except when we go to a restaurant or other place with AC.
Isn’t it fun to follow each other’s journeys. I learn so much from seeing what others are up to.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Lovely post, Gwyned. I’m so happy to see the RSC 2024 quilt. My bedroom definitely needs one like that. :^D I don’t layer much as I’m part polar bear and don’t mind the cold until I get in bed. The layers do come out after dark because I love the weight of it. But those layers in the plate are just perfect too. Lol. ;^)
Would you believe I’ve been creating quilted works for years, but never made a quilt for the primary suite? We’ve always had cats and they always sleep with us. 🙂 However, we anticipate a future without cats around the time we move to a CCRC, several years from now. So, this quilt will be for then. A lovely reminder of many of the quilts I’ve made over my 40+ years of creativity.
Yes, nothing like a bed with a heated mattress cover. In our case with an electric blanket. We also layer with flannel sheets, a second blank and a Primaloft comforter.
Absolutely exquisite!!! Your talent for thread painting is awe inspiring. I love to layer my clothes, but I tend to run hot, so I usually end up loosing the extra layers quickly. LOL! I am trying to use more embroidery in my quilting, and not just by adding an embroidered label on back. Haha!!
Thank you, Chris. I wasn’t sure about using embroidery in my work. However, the more I play with incorporating it into my designs, the more I like it. In fact, I’m think of doing a cat silhouette in the attic window quilt for my 2026 RSC quilt. The frames around the block include the occasional paw or tail on the sill. I’m thinking of adding various embroidered mice heading up the walls or along the sills. Found an adorable pattern on Etsy. There are 5 different mice and they can be embroidered in 4 different sizes.
Your thread painting is beautiful as always. I like SEDOSO’s way of celebrating his birthday month. I am always up for dessert. It is not yet that cold here on Long Island, but I will be sure to bring warm clothes when we visit our daughter near Boston later this month. I didn’t know you were nearby.
One of the great things about SEDOSO is he is easily pleased. Another is, that despite eating a diet rich in carbs, sugar and cheese, he has low blood pressure and not a hint of diabetes. He is also a very healthy weight. Wish my body handled his diet that way. He eats 90% of his desserts solo and if I do imbibe I eat significantly smaller portion. Boston is fairly sizable when referred to in general terms. We are 20 miles south of the city. I grew up 8 miles from the city in Lexington. We lived most of our married life 25 miles west of the city. Each of those locations are very different.
Have fun with your daughter. If you have time or are interested in a studio visit, I’m happy to have you and any family members who would want to accompany you over. Cohasset and the south shore are fun to explore.
Winter arrived here in eastern SD yesterday with 3″ of wet heavy snow. It will be gone again quickly I imagine. Every time I see your RSC quilt it makes me smile. So pretty!
Yikes! Snow already. That being said, I miss snow. It’s so rare in Boston this past five years or so, I feel as though I have been transported 500 miles south.
Hi Gwyned, your finished thread painted piece is really lovely. Thanks so much for linking up to FM Mavericks.
I’m almost always hot, so layering is not really for me 🙂
Thank you. I was very pleased how my threading painting/embroidery turned out, since I had zero idea where I was heading when I started the piece. I just liked the flower with butterfly. Once that was done I analyzed the piece, felt there was too much open space, so proceeded to fill it.