my dog quilt, part four
Progress is being made... little by little. I've finally finished all the hand applique... including ripping out quite a few original selections and making some improvements. Let the quilting begin...
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| Close up of my Bernina BSR... doing a great job handling all the layers of applique! |
I've been blogging about this quilt since the beginning of November. This is part four. If you want to see the whole process (and learn more about David Taylor), you can go back through the past few blog posts.
When I finish this quilt, I am going to post an update showing a series of photos from beginning to end.
But this might take a while...
I am machine quilting this one. Using Aurifil exclusively --- with only black, white and gray on the dog.
I tried a lot of different thread combinations, including several beautiful variegated combos... but I couldn't control the color where I wanted it to be. The dog is mostly all black and I have already gone through 3/4 of a spool of black thread. Using 50 wt. The quilting on this is very intense! I'm quilting very close lines and for the parts that need to be infused with gray or white, I am leaving space in between the quilted black lines and coming back to add the other two colors. I am trying not to quilt lines on top of each other. I want just one pure line... that is the idea anyway. The back of this quilt looks just awesome. I'll reveal that at the end!
This photo of the quilt on the machine shows my small space and my trusty Bernina! I have the back of the quilt lifted up with clamps so I don't have the weight to push around. This helps immensely! And this is especially useful since I am quilting in such a small space... I don't have much room at the back of my machine. But I find in life, as Tim Gunn would say you gotta "make it work." I love my house and I love having my studio where it is... so I trade those things for having a larger space with a big sewing table.
It also helps that my area is custom built to my specs. And the husband even built a custom shelf to lower my Bernina so that the extended table is flush with the counter. Awesome! That also helps with the weight of the quilt by keeping it flat with the machine.
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| Here is a close up of one section. |
Thanks for reading and going on this journey with me!
Stay tuned for more.
Happy holidays!
I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. Check out all the great work there:
http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/
It's looking wonderful so far and I love your machine quilting, which gives it a lot of added depth.
ReplyDeleteThank you Norma. That means a lot. I've only got a couple small sections done... its going to take a while. But I am happy so far. Thanks!
DeleteOh my gosh! This is wonderful! I aspire to do something like this. Thank you for sharing your journey with us,
ReplyDeleteYou're quite welcome. This one has been a lot of fun so far. Thanks for taking time to comment!
DeleteWow! Bigger than I thought it would be, truly a labor of love, scale is sometimes deceptive, Great work!
ReplyDeleteYes - very difficult to realize the scale of some thing with just one photo. I think this one is about 40 inches wide... not sure yet till I finish it. That reminds me that I should put a size in there when I post these things. I am so glad you took time to comment. Thanks!
DeleteBeautiful work. Would live to make one of my doggies.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue. Appreciate the comments!
Deletelovely! Beautiful quilting!
ReplyDeletethanks for your nice comments. appreciate you taking time to do so
DeleteI've had the some trouble with variegated thread. They look so beautiful on the spools, but don't seem to work well in my quilts. I'm curious to know more about how you use clamps to hold up the quilt. Is the clamp secured to the wall or ceiling?
ReplyDeleteThis quilt looks great!
Hi Angela: Agree about the variegated threads, very hard to get the color where you want it. I tired out several black/white ones for the dog but hated it because I could not control it. I found one that I am using for the background - Aurifil - and the color change on this one is fairly subtle from several shades of yellow to off-white to lime green, so it seems to be working well for this background. I think it adds a bit of interest. As for the clamps, I planned to hang hooks and pulleys and do it very professional, but I have 2 sets of those Judy Tailor thread racks hanging on the wall and my husband suggested I try those first. So we simply took 2 really nice clamps, tied a piece of twine on them and I have hung the twine over the thread rack. It is positioned over my machine so the clamps come down to right spot, then i raise it or lower it by putting the twine through different levels of the rack. ridiculously simple, not that pretty, but I am amazed at how well it works. really changes the whole quilting effort a great deal by having the weight lifted off the back. i am thrilled with it. let me know if you have any more questions about it. i'd be glad to try to help or send pics.
DeleteWOW -- your dog quilt is spectacular! I especially love the composition, the color, and the energy and spirit that you've managed to convey in fabric. The ombre fabric for the background is perfect, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rebecca. I appreciate your comments! I've loved working on this one.
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