Sunday, 16 September 2012

BLOG 116


This week, I have spent some of my creative time continuing to quilt the flower vases wall hanging. You may recall that I chose to sew the quilting stitch through a batting layer only and I am doing this purely for speed. This way I can leave the threads joined or untidy on the back knowing that they will be covered but, if I was doing a competition piece, I would opt to sew through a backing layer as well and make a feature of the stitches on the back.

Here is some detail of what I have sewn on each of the flowers. I felt that the petals of the daisies just needed simple definition but chose to do close circles on the centre. I usually try to match the thread with the fabric so that a texture is produced rather than a defining line.

 
                                      Daisies
 More detail is sewn on the Primulas, matching thread to the colour of the fabric.
 

 
                                    Primulas
I have referred to organic applique/quilting before and this is a stippling stitch around the edge of a shape. It is easy to do when sewing in a free-motion way and it adds definition and holds down the edges of the individual shapes. I have done this around the petals below.
 


 
                                       Detail 1
The flowers in the next bowl were cut from a printed fabric so all I had to do was follow the lines with a variegated thread.



 
                             Printed flowers

The final bunch of flowers was also organically quilted around the edge with more detail added in the centre.
 


 
                                        Detail 2
 
This is how the finished piece looks from the back. I used a lilac thread on the spool throughout for expediency but, if I was making a feature of the stitches on the back, I would have had to change spool thread to match the top thread each time! You will be able to see that I completed the shelf with undulating lateral lines but I chose to do a series of vertical decorative machine-stitched lines to complete the background wall. All this needs now is a backing, binding and sleeve.

 

 
                                    Back view

 
                                Back view detail

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