Applique/Trapunto, Part 2

 

NOTE: I won’t have a newsletter this week; I just realized there is no way I can do it; I will be teaching all day Fri and Sat. Sorry!

I had a chance to work on my applique/trapunto piece this week and all I want to do is quilt it! I chose a luscious navy blue dupioni for the border, a striped silk for the insert and a traditional ecru fabric for the half square triangles. It came together beautifully:

I chose to do a “bouncing banana” fill around the applique. My other choices were micro stipple or bubble. The bouncing bananas was definitely the right choice for this piece:

And, the bananas actually quilt up a lot faster than bubbles or micro stippling, so this choice was a win-win.

The trapunto is reeeeeaaaally lofty, over 4 quarters high!

That made for some challenging quilting. I had to raise my presser foot pressure when I neared the trapunto and put it back down in the open spaces, lest skipped stitches come in. I really don’t like the cupped foot because it obliterates what is behind it:

It’ distorts what you see through the foot. BUT, I opted for this foot about halfway through, and the tradeoff was worth it. I was able to keep an even presser foot pressure and move smoothly around the trapunto. It’s all about the trade-offs.

It’s starting to come together. The center is quilted and I chose the radiating lines for the corner blocks. I like the look, but it’s a bit off. I will try a darker and thicker thread. It’s just too wimpy. That stitching will actually rip out quickly.

Love how it looks from the back too!

I ended up having to use the longer Quilters Select ruler instead of my beloved Line Tamer. The line length was too long for the Line Tamer. Oh but I wished I had a longer Line Tamer! They make one but I just didn’t have it.

Predictably, when I used the regular ruler, I sometimes strayed away from the ruler edge and ended up with a wavy line. That will NEVER happen with the Line Tamer. I may rip this out and just be more attentive next time. I do love the way this is turning out.

Even though I wanted to work all day long on this piece, I did need to prepare for my 2-day seminar at Meissner this weekend. I have “just a few” handouts for my students. I am so excited about this seminar! I’ve wanted to do this locally for so long and when Meissner pitched the idea to me, I was instantly on board.

Now, just a random shot of Bayley, laying between Dad’s legs, all stretched out and ready to receive love. She is such a diva!

Til next week!

I’ll be linking up:
Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday