SAQA Benefit Auction Quilt Donation-2014

I just sent in my donation for the 2014 Studio Art Quilt Associates Benefit Auction. The Auction is SAQA’s largest fundraiser besides membership dues-this will be my fifth year to donate. You can see all the quilts in this year’s auction here-be sure and check back frequently because it’s still very early.

I decided I wanted to play with silk and sheer, similar to what I did in Emerge.

I drew up a little sketch before starting to guide me. I used purple hand dyed Radiance fabric (45% silk, 55% cotton), wool batting and 2 layers of polyester organza that was Misty fused together.

Choosing thread is one of my favorite steps in the creative process-oh the possibilities! I knew I was definitely going to use silk and metallic threads and that others would probably come to play also.

The finished quilt took a departure from my plans. The part that is now feathered was to be another sheer cut out area, but it turned out that it was too small to be effective.

I had fun doing those Greek key-ish thingys.

This was one huge challenge-how to handle those small areas that needed some sort of finishing treatment. On scraps I tried zig-zagging it, double stitching, couching yarn and finally binding. Those tiny little bindings were so fidgety that I applied it by hand on both sides.

As always, the back delights me almost as much as the front. I contemplated making the back the front. I ran out of time so I just went with my first choice.

I used Superior Highligths in a flourescent orange for my bobbin thread and I love the look next to the sheer poly.

Figuring out how to hang this was a real trick. It’s sheer after all-I didn’t want the hanging system to interfere with the look. Again I tried several different methods before finally taking a trip to TAP Plastic for the clear rod. And making that tiny little hanging sleeve was a bear also. Little things are just so dog gone fidgety-especially out of sheer poly!

Okay, I was almost done. Now how do you label a quilt like this? I didn’t want an intrusive label. Once again I tried several options and settled on this tiny little sliver of sheer poly written upon with a permanent gel pen. Opposite this label on the other side I have a similar label with the title of the quilt-“In the Moment”.

Can you believe that the last steps-binding, sleeve and label, took 8 hours? On a 12″ quilt! I always underestimate how long the final steps take.

Of course, it is never a smooth creative process for me. I started out with what was going to be two-sided feathers. I realized there just wasn’t enough room. So I thought, I’ll just fill the other side of the feather space with bubbles.

YUK-that did not work! Also, I thought I would try that style of feather shown here-I call it a long armer feather, some call it a bump, bump feather. But I don’t care for the fact that some feather tops have double stitching and some are single stitched. So I ripped out all the feathers and bubbles and put in “Diane Gaudynski” feathers. Ah, that worked!

The auction will begin in Sept-I’ll keep you posted!