Monday, May 9, 2011

Decisions, Decisions - Design Board Monday

TOO        RAW
So I spent the week sewing down and thread painting my lily quilt entry (You can see the pinned design here).  Who would have thought there would be so many decisions to make.  It started with the sandwich.  I decided to layer it without a backing and just use the batt as a stabilizer.  I figure the back can be added near the end with some anchoring quilting lines and it will hide all the back threads.  Then I had to decide should I use a free motion foot to sew around all the little pieces or a regular one.  I started with the free motion but - gosh - its ridiculous trying to control that accurately.    Not only that, but the edges were getting all messy and really frayed.  I mean this is suppose to be raw applique but it was looking a bit too raw!!  So off it came and on went my fav clear foot.  I also switched to a nice tiny but medium wide zig-zag stitch.  The edges were looking better but it was  a pain changing out the color threads.  So out came the thread and in went invisible thread which actually sewed up quite nicely. 

Still A Little Too Raw




So after a lot of false starts, I was ready to go.  Seven hours later, all the little pieces were sewn down, and now I'm in the middle of adding the thread painting.  I'm starting with the flowers and leaves since they are easily done.  I'm kinda freakin' about the stone background though - I might have to audition some patterns using clear plastic. . . .Oh great. . . . . more decisions!

See more great design boards on Judy's page.

14 comments:

Carol A. Babineau said...

Awesome, Nina-Marie! The free motion foot is harder to control. I usually go around the main figures and then use the free motion inside to give the work depth. The more you use the free motion the better you get!
I'm still learning:)

Sally Hamilton said...

The lily is beautiful - is it your design?

Sue Daurio said...

wow, it is a work of art!! Can't wait to see it completed.

Diane said...

it looks great to me. So much labor involved, my back would be aching!

Nina Marie said...

Thanks so much everyone! Yes it is an original design - most (but not all LOL) of my work is. Diane - I really try to take a 10 minute break every hour and a half or so!

Bonnie said...

You are making progress. Are you going to quilt stones (or river rocks) in your grey area? It would add a lot of texture to the piece. Good luck with it. It will be stunning when done.

Chris said...

It is stunning. Loads of work, but the results show it!!

Karen S said...

This is looking great!

Jennifer Woo said...

Love the raw edge applique, just about to start one myself so I will just follow your advice and use the clear thread!

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

Wow.....getting better and better

So beautiful!

glen

Nina Marie said...

HI Bonnie - yep - will be putting thread work throughout the quilt. Still right now, in my free time, I'm looking at other art quilts for ideas on how I'm going to quilt the stones. I probably will use clear plastic sheets to audition lines before I actually put a needle to cloth though!!

Gari in AL said...

Very interesting. I am doing applique and use monopoly almost all the time. I also use a small zigzag stitch. Hope to follow your thread painting: I have never done any.

AnnieO said...

Very pretty! Oh, my, yes there are always a thousand decisions at quilting time. Good luck with sorting through all the ideas and finding the best one for you!

Joyce said...

Gorgeous! False starts seem to be what it's all about with this kind of work. I can't wait to see the thread painting.