A Finish!

 

NOTE: I also posted a article on attending a quilt judge school this week in another post you’ll find here.

It’s always a JOY to finish a piece. This one has been in the works since 2022 and has had quite the journey. I’m going to start out with the finished quilt:

I don’t yet have a title. It was inspired by a previous quilt I made as a fundraiser sponsored by Pokey Bolton to support food for Ukraine (see below). I did a deep dive into researching Ukrainian design and drew this original composition. I do not consider it “Ukrainian design”, but more “inspired by Ukrainian design”.

The background is micro stippled and also contains some grid work. I used Bethanne Nemesh’s method for the covered bead border. That was lots of tedious work, but not difficult.

The front is silk from my friend who has passed, purchased during her travels with her military husband. I believe it is from Japan. It was an absolute delight to work with as it had a texture that was a little bumpy.

The backing is silk from another friend who traveled to Taiwan and purchased it for me. It has a very sturdy, even weave, yet is quite drapey. I wish I had the technical name for both silk types. The batting is wool.

The blue central motif is stitched with Aurifil Lana wool and the background is stitched with Kimono silk from Superior. I drew my design freehand on Golden Threads and stitched through it, then removed the paper. That was no fun, but it did transfer the design accurately. I was left with no markings on the quilt.

I had so much fun making this piece! I love, love the design I came up with! It was a joy to stitch. And of course, I love silk, which just added to my joy!

That detail, the knot in the corner, took me 6 months to figure out. At first I thought I wanted something showy there – a complicated Chinese knot, a decorative button, maybe a crystal, but ultimately each of those did not integrate into the quilt well. It’s always a trick to create skinny cording, but I figured it out and made the knot from the same silk as the center. That is why it integrates so well.

I am quite happy with the back, I think it is beautiful also! The wrinkly part at the top is the sleeve. This photo represents the actual color well; the photos below, not so much.

I am quite pleased at how the details show on the back. If it were not for the hanging sleeve and facing, this side would be equally beautiful.

This is a good shot of the edge treatment. Yes, it did take foreeeeeeeeever. But the piece needed something notable on the edge and I think this treatment is perfect.

I am pleased at how neat and tidy the facing turned out.

Now, a little bit of background. I made the quilt below for the Ukranian fundraiser. It was the inspiration for the piece above. It did well at auction.

I had actually finished quilting the top to the “new” quilt before I realized it desperately needed an edge treatment.  I thought I would create a quilted piece that would hang behind the yellow silk, giving it a frame. The two would be attached together at the top of the yellow silk piece. Below you can see my mock up of my plan.

Looks great, right? The problem was that once the navy “under quilt” was quilted, it was too small. Yikes!  Now what was I to do?

I created this as a stand alone piece and I wrote about that process here. It is an unusual piece, but I love it!  The title: “She Could Not Contain It”.

I’m pretty pleased with it, but it has not traveled as it is kind of delicate. The background is hand stitched with wool thread and can easily catch on things. I love those corners! You can’t tell, but there are beads interspersed across the piece. It really is a cool quilt!

So you see why I added the beaded edge to the yellow silk? It needed a bit of a statement to complete it and give it presence. I will be entering it into FACE of Fiber in the Rockies, Estes Park, Colorado; an invitational show. I was invited by Penny Hanscom who showed last year. Thank you Penny! The show includes all kinds of fiber art including basketry, felting, weaving, doll making, tapestry, collage and more.

I will submit both of these quilts and see if they jury in. The venue requires that they be for sale, so I will have to figure out an appropriate price for each. The show will run from June 6 – July 12.

I am undecided as to whether I should add some quilting to the vase. Hmmmm.

I’ll be linking up:
Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
Finished or Not Friday