No Guts, No Glory

Lots of progress has been made on the "sky and branches" prompt from the previous post. Working on the binding now. But in this post I want to get into the guts of the project. (Warning: if you aren't interested in making landscape quilts, you might want to skip this post.)

This is a large landscape, at least for me, roughly 43 x 42 inches, and I knew that all this free-motion quilting would present a weight/drag issue (meaning a neck, shoulder and arm problem) at the sewing machine if I didn't come up with a hack or two. So here's my hack. (Fusible batting tape is a must for this.)

All quilted. You can see all my joins here--none are visible on the front. (Click to enlarge.)

I should start by saying it probably takes less time to do this than to read about it! :)

1. Put the backing fabric aside for now. You are going to quilt the top to the batting only, saving the backing fabric for later (and saving your neck, shoulders and arms a lot of strain). And to further decrease the weight and drag of free motion stitching, you will cut batting pieces into sections, basting the first one to the middle of your quilt top and quilting that area first. However, do not quilt all the way to the batting edges--leave about a 2-inch margin wherever another section will be added. (Tip: On the quilt top, mark your boundaries with a couple of pins to keep from quilting too far in any area.)

2. To add the next section of batting, overlap an edge of the new piece with the unquilted margin of the first piece. With scissors only, carefully (don't nick your quilt top!) cut through both layers of the overlapped batting edges (pull out the trimmings). This will make the edges a perfect match no matter how crooked you cut and they will butt right up against each other.

3. Use fusible batting tape to join the edges, following package instructions and pressing gently; make sure the tape bonds well.

4. Keep quilting from the middle outward, adding batting sections as needed. Once the batting tape is fused, you can quilt right over that area--you won't feel it from the front, and no one will ever know there's a join there.

5. When the quilt top is completely batted and quilted, baste those layers to the backing fabric, using your preferred method of quilt basting. Then just satin-stitch over some of the main contours throughout your quilt top, which will give the landscape a more finished look and will automatically attach the backing fabric. For this I used my walking foot with the feed dogs up and took it slow--no drag.

(If you really want to add more quilting, go for it!)

At this stage, the final details were added to the quilt, facilitating further attachment of the backing fabric.

Next time, the finished quilt. If you got this far, thanks for sticking with it. Please comment if anything is unclear or if you have some ideas to add. Thanks!

Linda

Back in the Saddle Again

Just a few words about the  l o n g  delay since the last post: Yard work, crochet, basement reorganization, holidays...you get the picture. (No Covid, thank heaven and knock on wood---but also no quilt inspiration, until recently). 

This piece of batik fabric had been in the stash for a couple of years and it finally made itself heard. "Sky and branches," it said.

"Okey-doke," I replied.

Fabric auditions ensued (click on any photo to zoom):

Mountains popped up:

The water stayed, and some hills developed. (A sailboat was added; it will show up in the finished quilt.)

The colors were nice but looking fairly muted. The striped batik brought in the "pop," and ding went the internal bell that says, "It's a go!"

More auditions and additions...

This little guy may be repositioned. >>

Today it was ready for tacking down raw edges by machine. (The critters will be added after the main quilting. Much easier than trying to quilt around them all.)

I can't tell you how good it feels to be back in the saddle again.

Happy new year, everyone. It's got to be better than 2020.

Linda

Another Hawaiian Bay

 ...because, what else could this be but Hawaiian Bay II (the Second)? This is the first time I've ever used a quilt title twice (although it's definitely a different quilt), but nothing else seemed fitting.

The sky fabric was the inspiration for the quilt, and the mountain pieces were unused leftovers from another project. All the other fabric pieces were auditioned before cutting. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)

The water fabric was free-motion quilted with Sulky's Holoshimmer threads, in gold and light copper. 

Decided to sew on some shells (my husband drilled the holes). Glued them down first with Aleene's Jewel-It, just to keep them firmly in place while sewing.

Scattered some beads into an arrangement I liked, marked their places with a little white dot (ceramic pencil), and sewed them on.

Decided the foreground needed something extra. Couched some heavy, "blingy" threads (Wonderfil Dazzle 8-wt./6-ply rayon with metallic) in dark-red and purple around some of the unbroken leaf outlines. (The free-motion satin-stitching and feather stitching were done with Isacord 40 wt. embroidery thread.)

Just for the heck of it, here's the first Hawaiian Bay:

You can immediately see that for some reason they're both heavy on orange and purple, but the newer one has a considerably warmer tone, overall. The sky fabric was also the inspiration for the older one. 

Have a great weekend, and happy almost autumn (or spring, depending on your hemisphere)!

Linda

Misty Mountain Morning

Carving out a little studio time during 7 weeks of yard work (resulting in 32 big cans of yard waste and 5 lbs. lost, yay!), I was inspired by this tree fabric to begin a new landscape quilt...and to quilt that particular piece with a decorative machine-stitch, using the dual-feed foot. The stitch reminded me of snowflakes.

From there, compatible fabrics were pulled from the fat-quarter stash and quilted onto the batting and backing, one piece at a time. This is the first time I've pieced and quilted simultaneously. Saves a lot of strain on the body! [Most of the pieces were first auditioned together on the design wall.]

Anyway, next I quilted the piece for the water, using free-motion stitching with a holographic thread for sparkle.

Following that, a rock/water fabric and a tall-grass fabric were added and quilted in free motion...

(photo taken during audition, before quilting)

...and then, some boulders and falling water (cut from a panel), to add depth to the scene.

An elk was cut from another panel and added...

(also taken during audition)

...as well as an eagle---both outlined in clear mono-poly thread.

There was a problem, though...

See the vertical wrinkles? Believe it or not, I didn't notice them until it was too late---and there was no way to remove them. That should have been done earlier, with the 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water that I keep in a spray bottle, and then pressed with a hot iron (works every time). This would melt the holographic thread if I did it at this stage.

So, what to do? Cover those wrinkles! Two small evergreen trees (one by itself just looked weird) were cut from a wildlife panel fabric and "planted" close together in the tall grass (foreground). Landscape quilting is forgiving; there is almost always a fix.

Two little evergreens were also added across the river, for balance (see below). And here's the finished quilt, titled Misty Mountain Morning.

The elk looks a bit worried, doesn't he? I don't think the eagle is a threat. Maybe the elk is just saying hello to the eagle.

A sleeve and label will be added after some procrastination, now that the fun parts are done.

Everyone have a great weekend, be well, and stay safe!

Linda