Sunday, January 27, 2019

The Colorwash, Quilted and Bound

     Last week was a very difficult week for me. I was depressed and grieving over the situation here in NY. I am not a political person, but the line between life and death and the sacredness of human life is very clear. I could not function to sew. I won't elaborate, but to help pull me out of despair and mourning, I took out my Colorwash that I did in an online class with Wanda and quilted it on my Singer 301. 
     I used pencils especially made for marking fabric and I fear not all of it is coming out. I do not use markers for that reason. I will work on them with a wet towel again. 
     The idea for quilting was to be a burst, but not continuous from the center because that is the way the light moves in value. I chose two rectangle demarcations to stop and start the lines. 
     To start with, I used Invisfil to quilt with Bottom Line in the bobbin. Invisfil was recommended for quilting very finely. I bought an assortment in Houston. It is very thin. I could not get it to work. I tried a spool holder, running it through a paper clip, on the machine, and it kept breaking and not playing nice on the fabric. 
     I put Glide in the machine and it worked well, but I don't have all the colors I need to work over all the areas and it shows. I use Glide in my longarm and have cones of mostly neutral colors. Then it dawned on me to try the monofilament from YLI that has worked so well for me. I put it in, used PremoSoft in the bobbin and it worked like a charm. I was able to finish the quilt.
      The whole quilt was pressed well and then trimmed square. When I was Houston, I took a class from David Taylor, excellent appliquer and quilter. He showed how he used 1/4" Polyester twill tape sewn around the edges of his piece to stabilize the edges so it would lay perfectly flat, no waving. He cuts the sizes exactly as measured down the middle. Unfortunately, I can find it nowhere except in 4 yard packages which means you need a lot of packages and try to piece it. I sewed the longer sides first and then the top and bottom. Holy cow, does it lay flat!
Twill around edges. I used straight stitch. Could do a zig zag, but I did not think to switch machines.
All around the whole quilt
     I had to go back to the lesson, because I almost used facing, but realized it was to have a binding. In my new organization, I found some fabric pronto and cut and pressed the binding. I even remembered to sew the sleeve into the top binding. No problem sewing through the twill tape.


Detail of center
     So, although I have to handsew the sleeve down, and try to remove the markings, the Colorwash is done!! And I love it, and I am keeping it. And I want to make another. Thank you, Wanda!
      I have lots of little stuff I am trying to work on, but this helped me immensely. Thanks for looking!

11 comments:

Quilting Babcia said...

We grieve with you my friend. A nation that so callously sacrifices its children on the alter of greed and convenience cannot long stand. But we can rest in the knowledge that God's tiniest angels will have a mighty place in His kingdom. I think you were Spirit led to create the wonderful sunburst quilting on your colorwash quilt. this is a powerful quilt.

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

Beautiful Quilt! You didn't say which marker you used. Some are better than others... Don't ask me how I know. I think part of the thread problem... was that the weights were not quite right... with the Invisifil and the Bottom Line. A general rule of thumb, (unless you are doing bobbin work), is the bobbin thread should be equal or lighter in weight than the top thread. Invisifil is lighter 100 wt and Bottom Line is 60 wt.

Debbie said...

The vile deeds of many in this world are beyond our control or understanding. You are standing in a very thick portion of the battle.
This project has become a heart saver/mood raiser/soul satisfying one.
And a beauty in its own right. The tip from David Taylor is excellent to remember---got to right it down this time. Love the light burst rays you quilted. And glad you solved the problem. Try Dawn on the pencil marks, it might help.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

It is easy to get depressed lately, with all the things that are against what used to be normal human morals. Sad state of affairs. Lovely quilt. I'll have to remember that twill tape thing.

Quiltdivajulie said...

Beautiful finish - I'm glad you are keeping this one for yourself. Hugs for your hurting heart -- you are NOT alone in feeling that way.

diane said...

Sad, grieving, vile deeds as you all wrote before me are so true. Would love to write how truly disgusting this is to me, but then I'd be lowered to their standards.
So thankful we have the love for quilting that can also be our therapy. Our God is an awesome God.

Donnie said...

I’m with you Linda. It’s sad to be a lifelong New Yorker right now. But your quilt is beautiful. I went easy and quilted in the ditch (1 way) and it is still the least successful part of my piece. But wasn’t it a great class!

Jocelyn said...

I agree with Quilting Babcia. And your colorwash is beautiful. I started one years ago, but never finished. I should dig it out and finish the quilting.

Kevin the Quilter said...

I love the way you quilted this one! It looks awesome!

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

It looks great Linda! Beautiful!

Mystic Quilter said...

Super finish Linda - congratulations!