Now for the Quilting! (The Skyis Blue, the Sea is Blue)

Over the last week I have made a pieced backing for the quilt and have started the quilting process. The pieced backing was made of left over fabric from the quilt, plus some of the screen printed practise runs that I didn't use on the quilt top. It was fun making the backing as I didn't have to worry a great deal about how it would turn out, I just enjoyed using all the colours. I incorporated a detailed label which was printed on fabric in the ink jet printer. This means I won't have to add my name address etc to enter the quilt in a show. It's all on there, including the finishing date. How confident is that! Actually, I don't feel all that confident at the moment, because when I am quilting, it's like looking at the work with a magnifying glass! However, I am sure it will be fine in the end.

Too busy - but I can fix that!
Once I had quilted around the basic shapes, I hung it up again to have a good look. I'm glad I did this, as it made me realize that this piece needs a LOT of quilting. That is because, believe it or not, if you only do a little quilting, the background starts to look busy and I didn't want that. So when I do the next session, I will be infilling the areas I have createdand adding intense quilting. The further away the section is, the more quilting it will need to have. So there will be lots of tiny waves in the ocean, and heaps of cloud detail as well. The sand will be flat at the back, textured at the front. I think there will be about 20 hours of quilting still to go.......

Quilt label pieced into the backing, before quilting.

Overall view of the pieced backing, before quilting

Bits and pieces of screen printing, cut up to piece into the quilt backing.

Here are some samples of quilting I have done for customers.

1. Custom quilting - special quilting in different areas of the quilt. Includes stitch-in-the-ditch, stippling, borders and freehand patterns in different areas of the quilt. This type of quilting is the most expensive to have done, and waiting lists are longer - can be several months.




2. Edge to edge quilting (see below) - the most versatile, durable and most economical.
A computerised pattern is sewn over the entire quilt. This technique is suitable for many types of quilts, including applique. Waiting lists are usually short - 4 weeks maximum.