Alright. sometimes I think I've come up with a perfect design for the quilting. Then I get in place and find out that I am not as crazy about it as I thought I would be.... And think I've got to scrap it all and start from the beginning again...
Let me tell you what has happened recently.
I am quilting on the Red and Green top (still unnamed) that was given to me from my Heart's Aunt's Sister-in-law's late mother. (lol, follow that if you can!) All that to give you the background that I did not piece the top myself. It was pieced by Hellen Johnson of WA sometime before 2013.
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I believe Ms. Hellen handpieced most of the blocks herself. As I was giving it a closer examination, I found that three of the blocks were pieced in reverse. And even closer examination revealed that these three reversed blocks had actually been machine pieced. Putting 2 and 2 together, I imagined an inexperienced quilter was attempting to finish the top for Hellen and wasn't aware that the mirror image would happen if not careful.
The blue border was also added by machine. Again, some inexperience shows here too. The border was wavy from extra fabric in the border. But to me these imperfections are part of the quilt's story so I chose not to correct the mistakes.
Instead, I trimmed the blue border to 3" and added a 9" red outside border fabric. Then used the leftover blue to applique in the bigger negative spaces in the top. I was pleased with my cleverness to bring some interest to those blank white squares yet still retain the character of the quilttop.
Since Ms. Hellen Johnson enjoyed handpiecing the top, I figured it deserved to be hand quilted as well. I chose the 1/4" outline for the pieced blocks and "in the ditch" and outline around the appliques and concentric circles in the centers.
I couldn't decide how to quilt the border. I considered straight lines like rail or lattice style. But couldn't settle for so simple. I've been wanting to use Baptist fan design in a quilt so I started marking the border with a stencil. Immediately I knew I wasn't liking it...
I finally settled with echoing the applique outline and made a plastic template and marked all around the border. It was looking good to me...
Then I looked at the back side.... here's the back of the applique...
the whimsy of it makes me smile :)
....and back of border... so bland compared to the previous...
nope, no smile here...
I wasn't sure how I was going to make it more elaborate without adding new elements. An inner outline made sense, that's the in-the-ditch line on the applique, but what about the center??
I was thinking I would have to unstitch a couple hrs of work to replace the scalloped center for a circle. Not a fun idea.
So here is the part that I have been leading up to. My daughter is a 14 year old artist. She has proven her artist eye since a very young age, with proportions and colors and design.
I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have another set of eyes to look at my piece and explain what I'm stuggling with. I asked her if she thinks I should change the scalloped center to the concentric circles...
She suggests, "how about outline the scallops?"
Omg! She's brilliant!! Such a simple addition but the result makes it kind of lacy looking but not overly elaborate. LOL why didn't I think of it?!?
NOW, the border is completely marked. The only decision left on this quilt is what to use for the binding. I am so stoked to work on it. If it weren't for the soreness from needle pricks on the under hand finger, I'd be quilting 6 hours every day to get it done! But soon enough!
and in my opinion, that settles everything... My Sweetling is just going to have to live with me forever, so I can run to her when I have a stumbling block and can't continue. She saves me everytime <3. LOL, but since I know she won't agree to such a thing, I know I'll be turning to technology and cell phones and cameras and texting so I can still get her input when I need a second set of eyes...
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