As many of you may know, I inherited much of my fabric, thread and machines from my mom two years ago. I also inherited her
UFO's. She quilted for 30 years and she accumulated some fabulous
UFOs that really deserve the light of day. This particular
UFO, I actually helped her with back in the late 1990's and has been on my to do list since last fall.
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| Watercolor quilt approx. 23" x 26" |
I know that my mom intended to be the center of a king sized quilt, but never really knew what do put around it without making it feel lost on the bed quilt. I realized when I found this in my mom's stash that it needed to be a wall hanging. Last fall I picked up fabric for a couple of small borders and this machine embroidery design from
Urban Threads.
I love this "love" embroidery design, kind of like saying that my mom's love is never really finished!
Yesterday, I pulled it out, embroidered the border and made up this wonderful wall hanging.
So now the real dilemma (and why I haven't worked on this until now), how in the heck do I quilt this? It is made up of tiny one inch squares and I certainly don't want to take away from the quilt design, I want to enhance it. I figured I could use a light lavender thread, should I use something darker in the bottom areas where the flowers are? I suppose I could use a large stipple, but I would like to highlight the hearts. Any suggestions?????
I'm linking up with
Leah Day for UFO Sunday! Can't wait to see what everyone is working on.
Color Me Quilty!
Pat
It looks great but I don't have a clue about quilting it. Do you know Wanda at Exuberant Color? I would bet she could give you good advice on it.
ReplyDeleteI think it's beautiful and how you finished it up looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteAs to quilting ideas, I'm not full of any, so I'll let the seasoned quilters toss them your way. =)
This is stunning. I really like the border around it...really shows it off nicely. Sorry, have no immediate ideas re the quilting...other then a soft all over design. I think I would use one thread colour .
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of watercolor quilts and this one is a beauty! Love how you've framed it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful memory of your Mom. It's gorgeous but I have no suggestions for quilting it.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! so great to see it getting done. Starting back at your mom's UFO's could be very hard. Quilting: I would change thread to match, sky, hearts and foliage light and dark. Well I would do some Sky like lines back and forth in gentle moves, for the light sky like areas. The lines can move into the light foliage now and then to make the quilting even. The hearts could have a feather heart inside and then echo around to fill in more. Not sure if you have the skills for that, Sorry. Then in the dark areas and light flowers (change thread colour at least once or twice) you could do small leaves instead of stippling. The boarder would look nice with leaves or hearts again. or any boarder type quilting. I am sorry if what I would do sounds to hard.
ReplyDeleteI just looked back at your Free motion quilting. You have the skills to do all of it. Go for it. Maybe you even can improve on what I said.
ReplyDeleteI love Cathy's ideas! That's going to be a beautiful thing to have on your wall Pat.
ReplyDeleteLove this! It's so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI second Cathy's suggestions. Beautiful quilt.
ReplyDeleteThat is some great construction, I love the effect of the floral squares. I agree that the paler parts would look great with a sky-like motif, and perhaps some additional hearts stitched into the borders. To hilight the darker flowers, I might loosely go around each "patch" of different flower types to give it a landscaped garden look without actually stitching over the flowers.
ReplyDeleteThe embroidery you added is great! Quilting in the flowers you could use variegated thread and I like the leaf quilted and heart feather suggestion.Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI think this quilt is beautiful! I didn't realize that the flower areas were squares at first. Beautiful work! I agree with Cathy...
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful. I agree with the suggested designs, leaf quilted and heart feather designs. I know its been suggested but I wanted to add my vote for changing the quilting thread colors to blend into the different areas. That way you are just adding texture, not changing the original design.
ReplyDeleteI have only one thought to add to so many wonderful suggestions - don't be afraid of quilting over these prints. So long as you pick a thread color that blends - the quilting will not "take away" anything from the piecing design.
ReplyDeleteAlso I know I don't need to remind you to print out a copy of this picture and audition each idea! You're going to do fine, so don't let the pressure of messing something up with it stop you from finishing.
Cheers,
Leah
I second Leah's response. It looks so beautiful that I know whatever you choose to do with the quilting will only enhance it!
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful; it's lovely how you have finished it with just the right border.
ReplyDeleteSince it is a wall hanging, you could use clear poly thread for the quilting. Another option is to pick a lavender or gray thread (grays blend with everything really well).
I've just finished a memory UFO as well that is a tribute to my Mom and am now wondering how to quilt it. At this point, I know one thing: let's not get overwhelmed at the options and put these beautiful pieces aside for months with indecision. Whatever we decide to do IS the right thing to do. That is in fact what will make it a combination of your Mom's efforts and your personal expression.
Hi, beautiful quilt. Just adding my two cents- Don't forget to label it on the back.
ReplyDelete