The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

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

Comments

  1. Jenny, this quilt is a joy to behold! Your work is inspiring and I’ve learned so much from you.

  3. Dear Jenny, As usual your work is ‘out of the world beautiful’ thanks so much for sharing it with all of us. I love when you share your ‘how to’ thinking and ‘I wonder if’ thinking with us. Thank you too for sharing this magnificent quilt, it is a true treasure. Stay well. Loretta

    • Oh there is never a direct path to my quilts it seems! I’m happy to share; we all have struggles with our quilts. Thank you for reading!

    • Then you have seen the evolution of this work; kinda fun to follow and see! I really enjoyed this whole cloth and if that piece juries in and sells, I think I have to make another. I’m on a roll.

  7. Fabulous finish. This is one of those pieces where the journey to get there was as rich and rewarding as the destination. I love your thought process for coming up with that unique self-fabric knot detail at the corners.

  8. Stunning! I’ll vote for some quilting in the vase….in my opinion it needs to settle-in a little bit with the rest of the quilting. Magnificent job Jenny!

  9. So much enjoyed your class today. You are SO encouraging. And enjoyed sharing my parents 1970 store ad with you.

    • Thank you Callie! You did very well and your attitude is accepting and chill – that makes a huge difference and will help you succeed in free motion quilting. Yes, the ad was super cool; so very 70’s and looked like an ad I would have seen in my hometown paper.

  10. Love it love it love it. I would add quilting inthe space to the right above the vase. I’m m
    Not sure from my perspective what that open space represents. You can draw some possible additions to the vase, yet it might be right just like it is.

    Jenny have you ever engaged with the CherryWood Challenge?

    • Yes, have decided to add quilting to the vase. As to the space to the right of the vase, I am not sure what you mean but perhaps it is the fabric. It is an unusual silk and the color is lighter in areas so in the photo it might look like it’s not quilted there, but it is. You would see it in a higher resolution photo. I haven’t done the CherryWood challenge. I really don’t do challenges since I barely have time to finish my own work. I do enjoy the quilts in the challenge! Thank you Robin!

  12. Absolutely stunning!! I think I could sit and look at all of them for days and still not see everything there is to the designs.

  13. How exciting for you! I am sure you will be juried in! I admire your tenacity!and thank you for sharing your thought process, your techniques and why.
    I too have followed you since Houston 2018 . Reading your process and keeping at it, you may have inspired me to not “quit”on a quilt.
    ? FACES? Is the show open for others to view? Is it in Estes Park?
    Thank you for sharing.

    • Hi Vicky; yes, it will be on view in Estes Park if it juries in and you can see it. I wish I could go but I will be going to Denver a couple of weeks after and I can’t afford to go twice! I am thrilled that you are inspired to keep going on a quilt. Most can be resurrected and those that can’t, I put them out of their misery. Thank you for following!