When I start talking with my quilting friends about starting the hand quilting of a new quilt, I am always asked "how do you plan to quilt it?". Truth is, I do not plan. I start with outlining all the large pieces of the quilt, and as I do this I start to get an idea of what I can do.
The centre of the Mrs Vigors (also know as Out of the Closet) is shown above. I took it along on Saturday to
Hettie's Patch, where I lead a hand work group once a month. I just took it for "show n tell"
I also took along this old book on quilting designs to talk about ideas - not for me, but as a part of the learning process associated with hand quilting. I picked this book up at a Trash and Treasure market a few years ago for $2.
While flipping through the pages I found this:-
I rather thought this design was perfect for the centre of my quilt. It is the right size, right number of legs on the star, and the heart shapes echo the edge of the centre as well. Perfect! Then you have to work out how to get the design onto the quilt
Firstly I cut it out on freezer paper, and started drawing around the shapes. It proved a bit flimsy, so then I did it in template plastic.
This shape I put over the centre of the star, drew around the legs of the star, then pivoted it so that I could then draw each part of the heart shape. That worked out ok. Once again I am stuck with the right marking tool, so used a combination of my ever favourite Clover white marking pen, and the blue wash out pen. Together, they covered all the fabric types.
It is a bit disappointing really that when you do quilting on a printed fabric, even using light coloured threads, it is almost impossible to see! I wonder why I make such an issue with it?
It's a quandry I find myself faced with too, but I generally wing it and allow the block itself to determine how the quilting goes!! I love the central quilting design you chose, but I too find it a challenge to get the markings onto the fabric!!! All the best with it!!
ReplyDeleteCan I see all of Mrs Vigor's quilt? I love it!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful medallion! Wonderful fabrics. That soft green wide-ish border looks like a great opportunity for some nice, showy quilting. Have you considered darker thread, and/or bolder stitches? I'm with you, for all that work, you want your quilting to show.
ReplyDeleteI just now discovered your blog, what I've seen so far makes my heart beat fast - that's a good thing! I look forward to digging into older posts.
I tried the darker thread once before, and over printed fabric, it did not seem to show up any better. Using Perle cotton and big stitches, would work, but I am not confident with that method just yet. the thread I use is YLI and the colour Ecru. It works well with most fabric. I have a design from the same book picked out for the large green border. Just need to work out how to get it onto the fabric.
DeleteWendy. Your Mrs. Vigor vil be a TREASURE when she is handquilted!
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, the quilting WILL show in the end, so it will will be worth the effort and time.
What a great quilting design! I am not much of a planner either and just basted a quilt for handquilting I haven't figured out yet. But I will :0) That looks like a useful and interesting book.
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