Thursday, August 13, 2020

Grayness


So the quilt top that was pieced and hanging on my design wall when I got distracted and made Sidetrack is finally finished. Begun as a gray 'scrappy strings' quilt, it evolved a bit to include black and white and tan, as well as just a few subtle gold-laced prints towards the end. I actually thought of making the gold even more visible, but at some point let that idea go.


What took the most time was the 'block construction' - sewing strips together over and over again, cutting some of the lengths, and just playing with layout on the design wall. And then when I was ready to move forward, a quick pieced quilt back gave me some momentum again.


The best fun in making this one actually came through the quilting, which isn't something I often can say. I used two Aurifil 50wt threads - #2975 [Brass] and #2620 [Stainless Steel], varying grid densities from nearly matchstick to 1/2", 1", 1 1/2" and 2".


The most dense was done in the gold thread, slightly off from center. At first I had in mind to create a few of these dense spots around the quilt, but the one didn't show up as well as I'd imagined, so I just left it there. Then I traveled around the quilt with the gray, quilting each 'side' a different density. Not sure how well that shows itself off in the photos, but in person, I think it adds alot of interest to the quilt.


Due to the different densities, the quilt's edges were quite wavy when quilting was complete - too wavy. So I did what I've rarely done - I blocked the quilt before trimming and binding. Rather than totally dunk the quilt, I sprayed both sides pretty well with my spray bottle, then laid it out on the floor and pinned it 'square' and left it overnight. That helped a whole lot.


The trimmed quilt finished at 45" x 47", and was bound in Kona Pewter. The orientation in the first photo was what I had in mind as 'right,' as that's how I built it on the design wall. But considering it got turned during its photoshoot, you can see if you like it better this way. <wink>

7 comments:

  1. The tan and gold laced prints in combination with the brass quilting detail definitely give this quilt a pop and draw me in. I like the variation in quilting density and have to admit that I don't play around with that as much as I could.

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  2. I love the gold woven in, it adds so much interest! I've never been a big fan of gold, but have been adding gold accents to my watercolor paintings lately and I'm rather smitten with it. maybe it will show up in my quilting eventually

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  3. love it! so amazing that a bunch of strips can look so good!

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  4. I love your quilt and the variation of density and color of the quilting. I learn always with you! The color of your shoes is perfect with the quilt ;-)

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  5. Oh wow, the quilting is impressive ... I always shy away from something like that. Way too many threads to burry but it is very cool looking! xo

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  6. Congrats on your finish, Deb! Interesting how your gray quilt turned out so much less gray. Thanks for another "Which way is up" challenge. LOL!

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  7. I really like this! The different quilting densities really add interest.

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