When I last put it away I only had some quilting to do in the border and then the binding to declare it done. I had a good look at it yesterday. There are a lot of things I like, but overall I'm not quite satisfied. My task yesterday was to illustrate the basic elements and principles of design for one of my Textile Art subjects. I guess that gave me a new point of view. For one, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the little stitched details like the chimney of the settler's hut and the wobbly windmill. I also found I had more ideas about how I might tweak the design to make it work better. One idea involves more embroidered details in the foreground. For now I'm leaving this hanging in the living room. Then it will either go back in the bag and remain a UFO, or it will get another chance--just as well I have a couple of weeks holidays coming up.
We're joining in with Jan Mac's Oz Comfort Quilts project. I spent some time in the studio yesterday sorting through fabrics. There are several boxes of options near my front door. I'll have to wait for a break in the rain to load them up. There's another working bee planned for next Tuesday afternoon, so let me know if you'd like to join us and I'll send you the details.
Today we're having a celebration lunch. I'm hoping to lay out the quilt with our work so far. We'll have a couple of sessions to tidy things up in the new year.
Working with just grey is quite a challenge, particularly for some-one who loves colour. I'm going to have to work with variations in value--light and dark--to create interest. I think I'll get away with putting in some deep red accents too. That should really warm things up. It's going to be a very simple quilt--large blocks, with some four-patch blocks to break it up. Don't ask me when I'm going to get this done, by the way. I have no idea where it will fit with all the other projects I have on the go, but at least I've pulled out fabrics and started thinking about it.
This is a "broderie perse" technique where the printed flowers are cut from a feature fabric and then stitched to the new background fabric. I've used a temporary spray adhesive and blanket stitches to hold the flowers down. I've avoided using vlieosfix because I'm planning to quilt this one by hand. I don't like the stiffness of the fabric produced by the iron-on adhesives. I think I mentioned this quilt has been in storage for a while--I'm noticing the creases in the shot I've taken. Oh well, it's not in storage now, so maybe it's a little closer to being finished, though I've done nothing but look at it since I hung it on the wall. I need to decide what size it will be and then choose a border or borders. When they're on it will be time to think about quilting it.
Random white buttons and a bit of a free-hand (not free motion) quilted design in the border.
I've had the components for ages and have been meaning to formalise them into some sort of permanent arrangement. It hasn't happened. But if you rest the lump of wood on the table, lean the glass on it and slip the light underneath, it works. V traced her diagram and I was glad I'd hung on to those bits. I'm not making any promises about sorting them out anytime soon.
