kodachrome quilting

And April was the month of wresting a rainbow into a sewing machine. 

I can walk to the local library, and I am thrilled that they have a well stocked crafting section. There are a lot of great volumes on fiber arts including a great selection of quilting books. One book in particular, Walk: Master machine quilting with your walking foot by Jacquie Gering, was an incredible find. The pages show all kinds of creative ideas for straight line quilting and they are designed in a way that is achievable on a home sewing machine. I am looking forward to trying many of them out. 

For this quilt, I took advantage of the regular geometry of the top to try out this nested chevron pattern. It kind of reminds me of the Star Trek logo or a flying geese unit. It is difficult to see in the picture of the full quilt top, but the overall effect of the angled lines against the rectangles is one of movement. I'm so glad I chose something different than just mirroring the rectangles to make it more interesting. And I didn't have to mark anything!

The dark thread color I chose looks equally good on the warm fabrics as well as the cool ones. It of course disappears more on the darker cool fabrics while maintaining that texture that the eye can pick up even without seeing the thread. Quilting is always the hardest part for me, the trimming and binding will be the reward!

 

moths can be pretty too

This has been a really nice project as winter has given way to spring - I started this on February 17 and tied off the last knot as April began. Finishing the needlepoint flowers felt like a triumph that deserved an encore, and I remembered that I have a foursome of embroidery kits with whimsical nature motifs. Checking them out, this moth seemed like one of the simpler options, so away I went. And just look at those colors!! So cheerful. 

As I stitched in the early stages I wondered what on earth would posses someone to design something with a moth in it. After several layers of color and weeks of progress, I got it. What a delightful thing! The rusty tan that makes up the bulk of the wings seemed like an unusual choice until I got the blues and greens added, then I really liked it. I have also reconfirmed for myself that satin stitch stresses me out, and the filler stitching is a bummer, too. Flowers are much more fun! I actually expected to like the stems and leaves the least of all but it turns out that adding them in a final flourish at the end was quite pleasant.

For now, it is finished and I am not certain what I will do with it. I am likely going to work up the other three (at some point...) and then finish them all off in their hoops and hang on my wall somewhere. They may also end up in a quilt, or as something else. I am leaving open the possibilities. A collection of some kind would be really pretty. Tiny pillows? We'll see.