Sunday 10 February 2013

Pebbled Swoon

I've finally edited the photos of the third customer Swoon quilt I've quilted, ready to share. This one was pieced by Kayscha. I'm still working out the best set-up for photographing quilts on my foam boards in terms of positioning, keeping the boards vertical and straight, and lighting, but I'm really pleased with this new method. It probably takes longer to pin the quilts in place than it did to tape them up, but this way I can square them much better, whereas I was always distorting them out of square before!


This one was only four, full-size Swoon blocks.


My quilting design incorporated lots of pebbling, both as a filler and in the form of pearls.


While I knew pebbling was time-consuming, I hadn't realised quite how long the strings of pearls would take. This was partly due to the need to repeatedly change the presser-foot pressure, to account for the the bulky seam allowances where multiple pieces converged.


However, I'm really pleased with the effect of the stringls of pearls. I chose to quilt them on a pale aqua thread, to help them stand out, and to match the highlights of aqua in each of the blocks.


I marked the all the curved lines surrounding the pearls using a single template. For the diamonds (below) I also marked the pearls, but free-hand.


I also marked the extra lines inside on some of the sections (below).


While the stippled background works well, it wasn't my first choice. I would have preferred to do more detailed work, but the pebbling had already taken well over the alotted time and I also felt that the detailed work would have been too dense, making the finished quilt too stiff (I know it is to go in a living room) so this was a better choice.


The centre of each block (above) was divided using curved lines into a diamond-in-a-square design, with the resultign spaces filled with pebbling. I also echoed the outer curved lines into the surrounding triangles, and effect I'm very happy with.


The feathers were all quilted free-hand, and it's all done in free-motion (it shows if you look closely at a  few of the curves - but I'm getting much smoother!).


All the quilting is done with Glide thread; an off-white for the background stippling, aqua for the pearls and pebbles, and a matching taupe for the feathers.

I'm linking up with Leah's FMQ Friday.

11 comments:

Heather said...

I love the way you have done the quilting on this. The rows of pebbles have really set off the design, and adding that wee bit of extra colour brings that little bit more emphasis to the impied design. Great work.

Lynette said...

You always create the nicest quilting schemes. I love the secondary patterns you've created here, and you're inspiring me with your thread color play!

Esther said...

This is beautiful. I think your feathers are perfection, and I love the secondary design you created with the pearls. I also like the aqua thread. I have not been brave enough to try that.

Gwyned Trefethen said...

I love how you have enhanced the piecing of your quilt with the quilting. The touch of aqua in the string of pearls is pure perfection.

Jean said...

Absolutely stunning!

Quiltin Jenny said...

Gorgeous! This is the second blog linked to FMQF that has used the pearl strands, and I cannot get over the effect.

That little hint of color is perfect for showing off those perfect circles, and the curved lines make a lovely secondary design that seems made for the quilt!

Linda and Michelle said...

LOVED how all the quilting turned out!! You'vre given me some new ideas to try!!

FlourishingPalms said...

The string of pearls really set off the quilting, especially with the thread color. And your pearls are so beautifully made! Do you make figure eight from one pearl to the next? Or do you go around and then backtrack. This curious mind just wants to know. It's another gorgeous quilt, Emma. So well done!

Austysmum said...

So clever... and I'll say it again... CLEVER! I love the contrast stitching and the strings of pearls in the petal shapes set it off beautifully.

Frances Arnold said...

LOVE the aqua thread on the brown pieces....great idea!!!

Amanda said...

I really like the two colors of thread! It looks great!