Thursday, May 15, 2014

Purple Silk Finished - No Name

I finished my silk quilt I've been working on. It was a fun piece to do and working with so many silks proved to be easier than I thought it would be. 
 I did do a machine buttonhole stitch around the design elements. Some were too tight a curve or too small but I was able to get around most. For the difficult areas, I used a straight stitch. For sewing, I thought I would probably have to use a Microtex needle in a 60 or 70 which would pierce the silk leaving no obvious hole, BUT the rayon thread I planned to use would shred too much going through such a small needle eye, so I went with a Schmetz embroidery needle in size 11. It went through the silk just fine.
 I quilted the busy multi-colored silk using Bottom Line which is a thinner thread.  I wanted the quilting to show but not be the focal point.
 It was between a blue and light purple thread; I chose the blue which blended nicely with all the areas.
 I changed threads and used a raspberry colored rayon for the feathers. I thought the feather design would work with the green "comma strokes".
 I painted up a piece of silk organza using diluted Dye-na-Flow paint. I like positioning the silk so it has "bubbles" in it giving you nooks and crannies of color when it is dry. Dye-na-Flow is so easy to use, sets with an iron and good for ALL fibers which is a plus.
 So here is the first step in using organza as a binding. The binding is done like any other binding.
 And such a pretty soft edge when it is done, my new favorite way to bind art quilts.

And the finished piece which really is a perfect rectangle but doesn't come across that way in the picture.....so HELP, the hard part - what to name it.  Sometimes I'll look at a piece and it's an instant thought but not this time. I keep it hanging on the wall so when I walk into my studio maybe, just maybe something will strike me...so far....nothing....Some thoughts - Floating, Drifting, Lighter than Air, Something with Roses in it (too obvious maybe)...SIGH.......

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