The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

Another finish! SAQA Spotlight Donation 2021

 

I actually got my SAQA Spotlight Auction donation done early! The Spotlight Auction is held each year at the SAQA Conference and of course, it is virtual again this year. It raises money to support SAQA programs. Donations are 6″ x 8″ pieces that will be displayed in mats with a 4.5″ x 6.5” opening. Here’s my contribution – ta da:

But wait, that’s 2 layers of hand dyed silk organza, so it’s sheer. Here’s how it looks in the window:

I do love what sheer fabrics do!

Here’s my backstory. I was cruising my stash and sketches, trying to find something to make for the Spotlight Auction. As I rummaged through my stash, I pulled out items of interest. On my work table landed a big pile of my hand dyed silk organza and some hand dyed wool from Linda Waddle. Hmmmm, they kind of looked like the sky to me – the wool was a cloudy day and the blue organzas were blue sky. Could they work together?


Awhile back in 2016, I hand dyed about 25 colors of silk organza. I know, it’s like the only time in my life that I hand dyed something. So, snort, these are my OWN hand dyed organzas! Aren’t they gorgeous?

You know I love cutwork, so it just naturally ended up this way, in this kind of faux Cathedral Window thing. I do think I was influenced by the stunning, gorgeous Cathedral Window quilts of Lisa Ellis who recently taped for The Quilt Show. But hey, what would happen if I did cutwork and eliminated the need for all that hand work?

I could not mark on the fuzzy wool, and the organza was going to be cut into separate little bits, so I had to figure out a way to mark my stitching line. I marked my line on a water soluble stabilizer and put that between the wool and the organza, providing a clearly marked path:

I did have my feed dogs up and engaged the dual feed. Once stitched, I did the cutwork with the assistance of these divine scissors gifted to me by Iris White:

They were perfect for getting a smooth, close cut.

The back view:

Once the water soluble stabilizer washed away I could add the beads. I had to control the edges of the organza so I ran each through a quick lick of a flame to seal them.

A close up of the beading:

I think it adds a nice touch to such a diminutive piece.

Oh I have to have one more look held up to the window:

Yes, I think there will be more of this somewhere in the future. I do like where this is going.

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I’ll be linking up with:

Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday

Finished or Not Friday

 

 

Comments

  1. I love seeing your work process. As I was reading your blog I wondered what you used to mark your fabric and then came upon the mention of usine water soluble stabilizer. What a great tip! I can’t wait to try that when working with sheer fabrics! And as always, your work is incredible.

    • Thank you Tecla! Good to connect with you again! Yes, water soluble stabilizer is a handy thing to have in the studio.

  3. Beautiful, Jenny! I especially love the detail of those tiny beads. Absolute perfection. But I’m curious — do you teach this technique using flames to singe the edges of silk organza, and if so, have you ever had a couple of Lucys and Ethels in your class whose projects go up in flames, who singe off their own eyebrows, or… ;-). Hah! I’ve been watching too many old TV shows in lockdown!

    • LOL! Thank you Rebecca Grace. No, don’t teach it yet but I can see it going awry. You don’t have any personal experience with singeing I hope!

  7. Verrry nice! And, yes, good advise with the water-soluble stabilizer. We have so many tools that can be used in many ways. Thanks for that reminder.