Frustration abounds
This will be a short post. I viewed the Sierra Gold Quilter’s Guild show last weekend and it was fabulous. But I just don’t have time now to go through the photos, fix them and create a decent post. I’m heading to San Diego for a 3-day gig with the Canyon Quilt Guild and 10 days later I’ll be on my way to Houston. It is crunch time!
I’m going to catch you up on a quilt that I’m working on now that has gone through 3 different permutations. I’m not even sure what I’m going to do with it and there still is a chance that it will be a bust. I started out with such high hopes!
This was inspired by my own Ukraine donation quilt I made for Pokey Bolton’s auction last year; the design is of my own hand. I had more of that glorious, vibrant yellow silk and I envisioned the above as a stand alone piece.
I’m not thrilled with its current state for several reasons: the super skinny 100 wt navy thread in the background kind of deadened the vibrant yellow. And it desperately needs a border, which I did not account for in my design. This piece is already faced.
The quilting is not complete yet as I need to quilt that part to the right of the top of the vase. And I’m not sure that the bubbles add anything to this piece. I question whether to leave them in or continue the micro-stipple.
So Plan B was to quilt a deep navy blue dupioni piece that would hang behind the yellow piece and act as a border. I’ve done that before here with “Prairie Conversation” which is two separate quilts, with the smaller white and black quilt attached to the underlayer at the top with hand stitching. It is pretty cool.
I thought I would do that here. Soooooo…
I actually had a few permutations with this piece also, but I forgot to photograph them.
I was going to grid the panel part of this blue silk dupioni. The problem was, I gridded a bunch of it before I realized this:
See those crease looking marks? I machine basted with water soluble thread and it left a permanent crease in the dupioni! Cotton won’t hold that crease but the dupioni will. I knew better, as I had made that same mistake before! Wetting and/or manipulating the dupioni will not release that crease. Ugh!
So I decided to bubble it, but the creases still showed. I thought I would add some hand embroidery to each bubble. Where ever there was a crease, I followed that line with my thread to cover the crease. It actually creates a bit of a whimsical look which I love.
At first I just used yellow wool for the hand embroidery but I though that might be a little boring, so I added the light blue thread, a good addition.
Then I realized that this may be able to stand on its own as a solo piece! And I would still have the problem of what to do with the yellow piece. What a mess!
There are several major design considerations yet to be addressed:
If I continue forward with the hand stitching, will that be enough to make this a successful stand-alone piece? Me thinks so, but many more hours will be needed to get it to the point where I can make a good judgement. Progress is slooooow; each little bubble takes a good bit of time as each embroidery is knotted off in every bubble.
What about the border? My initial plan was a border similar to the try-out piece you see on the right hand side. But now I wonder if that design marries to the “new” hand embroidered panel?
This piece has taken some wild twists and turns. And I’m still not even sure it will be a successful piece after many, many hours into it.
I’ll share at:
Will this/these be for show entries at some point? They are looking great and you may be over thinking the whole situation. If you are doing another background for the yellow silk, keep it plain–it is a background!! The navy with the hand embroidery definitely looks like a stand alone and will be worth the extra work in the end. Take a deep breath, relax, re-prioritize and don’t kill yourself!!
Yes, probably show entries. I’m giggling, me, overthink?? Yes, I don’t need too much going on for the yellow silk’s border. I do hope the other piece works stand alone.
I beg to disagree with “it desperately needs a border.” Unless you are going for a specific size, the rich silk and intense quilting seem to make a strong statement here.
Thank you Martha. I’m not going for a specific size so I need to re-overthink this and consider it done.
I love how the navy border highlights the flowers on the yellow silk piece. I also love your new work on the navy piece. What a dilemma! Enjoy your upcoming gigs!
Thank you Kay. Once I see it in photo, I like the navy border also. And I’m thinking the other navy piece is a go.
Your yellow piece is lovely and I really like how it looks boarded by the navy silk. Perhaps you are overthinking it? Maybe just follow where your quilt is leading you to go ? Just a thought.
Overthinking? Me??? Yes, I admit it. I do like it with the navy silk border. Thank you for your encouragement!
Hmmmm…..I hear your frustration and feel your confusion.when I’ve been in a spot like this I always add another option as a choice. Sometimes I think it’s best to just walk away for a bit and let the whole project(s) rest, marinate and settle down for a bit. I’ll let the overly pondered mess (I’ll call mine that at the time when it just seems an over thought tangled jumbled “mess”) hangout for awhile…sometimes visible. I’ll work on something totally different. Usually I can then revisit my “mess” with some new and fresh perspective….or at least a decided direction that seems right. I feel your pain! Breathe in…breathe out and repeat PRN!
Oh thank you Nadine! Funny, I agree but this project has been on time out twice already! This may be a 4 or 5 time out project(s).