Sunday, February 8, 2015

Designing a Quilting Plan for Impermanence

I have a lot of work planned for this week - namely, sharing with you some new designs I worked on with Patricia Ritter at Urban Elementz - and working on two quilts from my wonderful award winning client Darlene...but that won't start until Tuesday.  :)

   Over what is "my" weekend - Sunday and Monday - I have been working on a design plan for Impermanence.  I agonized about thread for this quilt...I do love piecing and appliqué, but I love the quilting process more.  I decided not to add anymore appliqué to this quilt and instead create visual impact with thread and quilting texture.  I sure hope this turns out well!  

 

   Of course, I don't want to give it all away, but here is a quarter shot of what I think may be the quilting plan.  Ignore the colors - it is just so I can see what I drew.  I did however purchase several cones of metallic thread in royal blue and black from Superior Threads.  I also discovered YLI carries a fine metallic thread - though I had already ordered thread from Superior I went ahead and ordered 2 very small spools of this fine metallic to try out.  What I am excited about the YLI thread for is that because it is fine, I am hoping it will add subtle sparkle without the buildup that metallics can acquire.  

   I am still not sure what will be quilted in what color thread.  I know I want to use small amounts of blue - but it really just depends on how much it shows against the black fabric.  I want to break up all the open negative space with more than just black texture.  There really aren't a lot of examples of quilting with metallic or blue metallic online either in the colors I plan on using so it's very hard to gauge what it will look like ahead of time.  This will be quite an experiment!  

   I ordered two yards of black Hobbs 80/20  which should be enough to double the batting for this.  I wanted to put wool on top but I think I want to keep with the black so that any needle holes don't show white batting through the top.  

   The other idea I'm toying with is adding royal blue piping along the inside of the binding when this is complete.  We will have to see.  This entire project has been good for me - a lesson in holding back.  I think it can be hard to learn when to add more and when to hold back.  I LOVE to play - but sometimes I can just get carried away.  I hope that this turns out as beautiful in reality as it does in my head.  I'm so excited I can barely stand it! 

   Today is a family day - but I'm hoping to pick up new backing fabric and order crystals for this.  I had purchased 5 yards of an aqua blue fabric when I planned on doing black high contrast quilting...but since the quilting plan is now to be more subtle and elegant I think black is the only appropriate color for the backing.  Wish me luck!

5 comments:

Hedy said...

Your work is just stunning and here I can barely stitch anything on long arm ! I love reading your blog and look forward to seeing how this turns out.

Unknown said...

That's going to be a lot of work but it will be stunning when it's finished. I would really like to see how the thin metallic looks (and how hard/easy it is to work with). I can't wait to see your pictures as it progresses.

Marj said...

Your plan for quilting looks awesome and I like the plan for Blue piping on the binding.

Mom said...

the best metallic IMHO is by Wonderfil. It is smooth, fine and runs like a dream.

Lara B. said...


That quilting plan looks great Valerie. I had not realized that Impermanence was a larger quilt until I read that about you buying 5 yards for the backing.
so Cool about your new designs with Patricia Ritter - Congratulations!