Friday, January 11, 2013

Frigid Friday...

Perfect for working in the 'sewdio'.  :-)

Yesterday I finished the quilting on my sample, "Mountainscape I".  During the process, here's what I learned:

  • All other things being equal, Bottom Line (R) thread in the bobbin works significantly better than (even) good-quality 50-wt cotton, when invisible thread is in the top spool.  This is particularly true when one is trying to quilt sharp, pointy shapes.  The 50-wt thread kept pulling up a the points, making wee white dots all over the dark green (tree) fabric.

  • My FMQ skills are better than I remembered from the last session (just before Christmas, when I was finishing "Trio" for my FAP.)

  • A sample this size (12 x 20, finished) is still large and a bit awkward for me to quilt.  I need to move very carefully on the finished piece which will be three times this size!


  • Once I finished the quilting I added some paint.  Because the scene has a night- and day-time sky, I made a 'moon/sun' with my quilting (see the face of the moon, turned on its side?) and used a freezer paper stencil and oil paint sticks to give it a 'glow':


    I also added snow on the mountain tops, using paint rather than fabric, for a softer look:


    Now I'm considering adding tiny trees to the surface, stitched on by hand.  Right now they're simply positioned with a dab of washable glue-stick!  Here's how the piece looks right now on my design wall:


    All of the fabrics are commercial cottons and batiks from my stash; the challenge is to pick ones that would give the desired effect. Once I stitch down the trees, I'll add some flowers, using embroidery -- French knots, seed stitch and the like -- in red, rose/pink and perhaps a touch of yellow -- in the grassy area at the bottom. (Remember, the aim of the larger work is to include the colours of the liturgical calendar.)

    So...it's off to stitch I go, but not before taking up Nina-Marie's kind invitation and linking up to "Off the Wall Friday".  Why don't you head over there and see what's what, too?

    4 comments:

    Cathy Perlmutter said...

    Very serene and lovely. Thanks for sharing.

    Jenny K. Lyon said...

    Lovely! I like the effect of the paint very much. And adding little hand applied trees would be great. It's a beautiful piece!

    Nina Marie said...

    one of the best things I ever did was start keeping a process blog that helped me document what I learned and where I wanted to go - this is great!

    liniecat said...

    Gosh I adore this panel piece.......love the moon, sky and mountain especially!
    Am blog hopping and really like yours!