Angst
I did some dramatic things to my yellow silk quilt this week. There is no turning back now. I hope this works! I cut off the border. The raw silk was just too floppy and I knew this quilt would not hang well. I bit the bullet and removed the border. It was a challenge:
The thread I used by almost invisible, visible only that it had a bit of sheen next to the matte of the raw silk. Yikes, that left me with a raw edge:
I decided that I would do the whole panel as an overlay upon navy dupioni. I will attach the top of the yellow silk panel to the navy dupioni that I would quilt a border into. I will treat the dupioni as a whole cloth, quilting the central portion also, even though the yellow silk part will hang over it. I needed to finish the edge of the yellow silk panel. I decided to bind it:
It looked cellulite-ish! Ick.
And dang, I did such a great job on my miters too!
I decided to face it:
I don’t face often, but this is what I do if I face. This method reduces bulk in the corners. It’s the only way that makes sense to me. Here it is turned and pressed:
I edge stitched the facing so that it would not roll outwards. That edge stitching is a useful holdover from my garment making days. I let just a teeny weeny bit of yellow show from the back. Now, lookie how that gorgeous deep navy dupioni looks with the yellow panel:
I’m going to back it with this beautiful silk stripe that I’ve had for a while. I’m getting to the point where I’m using hoarded fabric:
I fused Pellon Bi-Stretch Lite to each cut on the dupioni and the back. But I still got this:
It still shredded so much (those were torn edges) that it almost became a tripping hazard.
Now, how was I going to quilt that border? Thread auditioning:
The 2 on the right were a definite NO! I tried so many different designs, colors, threads:
Oh there were more too, just forgot to take photos of them. None of this worked. I have decided that I will definitely piano key the background in navy silk 100 wt thread, then quilt the motif upon that.
Finally, I think I’ve settled on this:
None of the heavier threads worked, none of the other colors worked, none of the fu fu curvy motifs worked. It needed a grid against all that curve. There may be tiny seed beads involved…
Now the problem of marking……this is tricky. The deep color will not show a blue wash out well. I will not use chalk or a ceramic marker; both would abrade off before I quilted everything. Hera markings do not show up enough. Soap stone didn’t work either.
Don’t even THINK about a Frixxion pen. Iron away products (there are many) leave a ghost mark on the silk. Pounce pad – no, will not hold even with hair spray on top. I pulled out my pink Clover water soluble pencil as my last resort. It does hold decently with handling, it does come out with water and a wee bit of a rub. I’m not exactly thrilled with this choice, but it is my best bet.
Remember, I’m working with silk. Markers that work well on cotton do not necessarily work well on silk. I. Know. This.
So now to mark, layer up and quilt! I still have some harrowing moments ahead. I will quilt a border on the navy silk dupioni; the center panel will hang in front of the dupioni border. I will also be quilting the central part of the dupioni that will be covered by the panel, so that everything hangs well. I am accounting for some shrink with the quilting of the dupioni. How much will it shrink? I guessed. I hope my guess is correct! If not, none of this will work. What have I done to myself?
So you see why I titled this post angst, right?
I’ll share at:
Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
and
Finished or Not Friday
I love what you decided to do on the border. I had never thought of adding a corner cover on a quilt. I will have to try that.
It’s a really nice finish on the corners when you get rid of the bulk.
Jenny, I am feeling your pain! But “cellulite binding?” That is one I’ve never heard of before. Sure gave me a chuckle! Your process is fascinating, the way you methodically test so many different options before settling on a patch, and your willingness to rip and remove so much beautifully stitched work in order to make the piece even better. No more angst!
It really was cullulite-ish! If you saw it in person, you would agree. I’m taking a page from your book with the methodical testing, lol!
What a challenge! It looks beautiful so far. Do you have instructions available on how to do the corners on your facing?
You know, I have not done a tutorial on it. I learned this from a guild member years ago. I will keep that in mind, it would make a good tutorial. Thank you for asking about it Sue!
Lookin’ good! So glad it worked!
I never would have thought to do that either. I am thrilled it worked. So glad to have friends to go to!
It’s simply beautiful. And you have infinite patience in making this perfect.
It’s kind of like I have invested this much time in it so far that I have no choice, I have to figure out a way to make it work!
Oh my – that is just beautiful!!
Thank you Alycia!
No wonder you are the penultimate machine quilter, Jenny. Your knowledge of fabric, marking tools and creativity when it comes to pattern design is inspiring. Love your final choice – how it the border motif reflects the inner panel, but with a slight tweak and allows the central motif shine.
I will need to correct this in my next post – the idea for the revamp came from Linda Waddle. I do like it and I’m thrilled that it will be a more interesting piece because of it.
Hi, Jenny. I’d love to learn how to finish a quilt with the triangle border piece. I just don’t see how you turn the regular binding strip over and how that fits under the triangle. Can’t wait for your tutorial.
LOVE the yellow silk piece. To me: awesome!! Thumbs up!!!!!
I hope to get a tutorial up but that does take some time. Just envision this: take a square, fold, baste into corner. Then cut facing strips the width you want x 2 plus your 1/2″. Center them on each side and place so that they overlap the corner triangle maybe 1″. Sew all 4 on and you’re good to go. I took the extra step to understitch each one, but that’s gilding the lily:-)
I love this quilt. I learn so much fro what you do. Reminds me that I need to practice!
There are some tutorials about the faced finishing out there. Here’s one from We All Sew
https://weallsew.com/make-quilt-facing/
It’s great for my small challenge quilts because the corner triangles are super for holding a dowel for hanging
Thanks Kathy! It’s pretty much what I do; I learned this method sometime early century from a guild member. It’s so easy and the corners don’t have that bulk.