Inspiration

Where do you look for your next idea? I have been looking through photos I took of autumn leaves and found this view which I found interesting. The colors, the shapes of the leaves, the light and the shadows all were inspiring. How can I turn this into a quilted piece?

Will it be the entire photo or just a close-up of one area? What fabrics would be the best choices? How could I incorporate the multiple colors in each leaf? Will the finished piece be realistic or abstract?

These will all be questions I will ponder as I work on this idea.

What do you think?

Should I have left off the red flanges on the redwork blocks? Should I have made the quilt square instead of going for a more unusual shape? (See Friday's blog for the photo with the flanges.)

When laying out the blocks and stitching them together, I felt there should be more red to emphasize the outline of the redwork blocks. A solid border didn't seem like the best solution. Ever exploring the options, I came up with the red flanges. I liked the more dramatic shape, so I finished it that way.

Did I wander off? Or did I come up with a more interesting quilt? You be the judge.

Speaking of Red

I've completed my redwork table topper. Even though this is a smaller project, it was a work in progress of a considerable amount of time. Initially, the four redwork blocks were stitched together with five solid red blocks. To me, this was too ordinary and unexciting. Maybe this was why it was never finished. I removed the solid red blocks and added pieced blocks made of a variety of reds. Now it captured my attention and I could move on. I machine quilted the red pieced blocks and hand quilted the four hand-embroidered redwork blocks.

Quilting the design

As I said yesterday, I can make multiples of my quilting design by stacking papers and stitching through thread-less. Not only do I now have the needed copies of the design but the perforations on the copies make it easier to later remove the paper from the top of my quilt.

As you can see, the tracing paper is thin enough that I can center the design on my block. I then pin in place and quilt on the perforated lines. I do have to remove the paper later but the design is easy to see, quick to quilt, and I don't have to remove marking lines from my quilt top.

Life is a trade-off, but we are always looking for the option that is easiest and most satisfying for our needs.

Making quilting designs

I have been busy getting quilts ready for the quilting step. Often I need multiple copies of the quilting design to place on selected blocks in my quilt.

My favorite method to make these multiple copies involves stapling several sheets of tracing paper together with the design on the top sheet. I remove the thread and bobbin from my machine and trace around the design perforating the paper with my sewing machine needle. I remove the staples and carefully pull apart the sheets of paper.