Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Finished the quilting










































I finally finished the quilting on my blue practice quilt.

It ended up about 36" x 48". which is the size of the competition quilt I will be working on. I wanted to get used to working with something that bulky, and see if I could end up with a back that looks neat.

It worked. Although I have quilted my bargellos that size and larger, the quilting on them was much simpler - just curved lines that followed the curve of the bargello design.

But this is quilted on every inch. I enjoyed it, and learned the importance of being patient and steady. It is far from perfect, but the practice on something "real" was necessary.

When I went to see Juanita Yeager's quilts last week, she talked about her quilting process, and it was interesting for me to hear a great quilt artist like Juanita talk about the role of quilting on her prize-winning pieces, and also how judging quilting has changed aver the years.

Now I just have to put facing on it, and decide if I want to hang it somewhere in my house.

Now that I am back at the Museum volunteering, I can take hand work with me, and if things get slow, I can do a little sewing. It helps the time pass between jobs. Can't do that on a "real" job


My next two projects are to finish my second silk heron, and work on another little clothesline miniature.


One technical question to anyone out there:
I bought some double-eyed needles to use in thread-painting, and wonder if there are any techniques that I need to know. I haven't been able to find much on line about their use.



2 comments:

  1. Marilyn, your stitching has improved a lot. Practice, practice, practice.

    The double eye needle is great for using two different colors of thread at the same time. It keeps them separated so that one doesn't cause drag on the other when sewing. It's a sort of one needle version of a double needle for people that don't have machines capable of using a double needle.

    Just remember to put the spools on your machine unwinding in opposite directions. Otherwise the threads can tangle. Put your main color choice in the lower eye. Go much slower than you would normally sew. This needle works best for straight stitching or using built in machine designs. It will work for freemotion if you remember to sew slow which might be difficult when doing some designs.

    Does this help?

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  2. Love the more artistic materials you have used...
    Never heard of a two eyed needle...but then am new to this quilting world...but reading Anitas comment it all becomes clear...will have to go out and get one and see for myself...sounds like such a good way to do double colours..
    Look forward to seeing your finished work
    Greetings from south africa

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