Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Rose Window Quilt continued...

Today I experimented with different color schemes for the corners of the quilt.
Step 18: First color scheme - gold...

Step 19: Didn't care much for the gold - too gold, I guess. So I tried pink in the other corner...

Step 20: I liked the pink (egads, what's the world coming to?!), so it was time to cut the pink corner pieces and fuse the whole thing to the batting.

Step 21: After it was fused, I discovered I needed an extra half-inch in the top border and I also realized I needed to tone down some of the white spots in the photos...

Step 22: I applied Derwent watercolor pencil to the top border to blend that extra half inch with the rest (I am limited in my fabric as it was supplied to me by FabriQuilt and what I have on hand is what there is - these are new lines, just coming out). I also used the water color pencils on the photos to darken the white areas where the photo transparency failed to move to the fabric from the transparency film. And yes, I know it would have been easier/smarter to have done that right after the transfer photos were dry... but I didn't. So it was corrected today... prior to beginning the quilting, at least!

Now, of course, it's time to figure out how on earth to quilt this thing... I detest satin stitching, although I suppose that would work very well using black thread over the black fabrics. Boring. Tedious. Nope, not for me. But I do need to tack down all those fused edges somehow or other, won't I? The photos don't really call for quilting, either - quilting might make the figures all jump out of the window, which is something that wouldn't be my choice. So it's time to let it set on the design wall and wait until a solution moves into my consciousness. I'm hoping the ideas will come quickly - I'd like to complete the quilt by Monday, at the latest. I'm scheduled for shoulder surgery on Tuesday... heaven only knows when I'll be able to quilt again, and the quilt is due back in Kansas April 20th.

Meanwhile, here's more crocus!

3 comments:

Gerrie said...

I know that satin stitch is boring and I think it would be too much - maybe a simple, very narrow zigzag? Or even just outlinming with a straight stitch. It is a great piece what ever you do.

Lisa Call said...

Wonderful. I haven't a clue how to quilt with all those pictures.

Although I think I need to plant some crocus because my yard is still very dead and I would love to see some color.

Frances said...

this is beautiful and I agree the pink looks better than the gold, thank you so much for showing the process, I have lots of family photos I would like to work with one day and Rayna and yourself inspire me, the crocus are lovely and congratulations for being in the journal quilt book,