dancingstitcher Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Hoffman 2008 entry - "Sunday Kind of Love". From a little 2"x2.5" catalog picture of peonies in a pot with a heart shaped trellis, I made this silk quilt and used the Hoffman fabric with the peacocks in the doily, three tassels, and leaves. I backed the silk with fusible tricot, stuffed the tassels and rope garland. All the applique is turned edge which I learned from Martha Nordstrand (you can Google her as she is a marvelous teacher who does very realistic flowers) at Quilt Camp in the Desert in Phoenix last February. The leaves were fun to make, Hoffman on the front and light green silk on the back, sewn shut, slit open on the back, stuffed with Heat 'n Bond Ultrahold, ironed into curved shapes while turning the silk forward to the front along one edge. The vines were done in Martha's technique too. The silk peonies took hours to make and get the color placement correct. The doily reminds me of my Grandmother who made many of them in crochet. Luckily the print had so many on the peacock feathers, all in graduated sizes. The edge of the doily is not attached. In the two yards allowed there were only nine of the print areas that I used for the triangles and had to patch one of them. They are backed with gold silk. Any guesses as to how I got the lines in the background so straight and even? I mounted the quilt onto a larger square of fabric, then cut out the back where the quilt was, attached it to the canvas on the machine, then used my channel lock to make vertical and horizontal lines. The trick is to go around the bouquet and end up meeting accurately. Measure twice, stitch once. The top thread is 402 cream colored, the lower thread is a light blue, and the bobbin was YLI Diane Gaudynski silk, 100 weight which ran like a dream and only needed one bobbin! I couldn't get the silk to run in the top as the hook in the bobbin area kept cutting it. I tried to sand it down in case there was a sharp area which I couldn't feel with my hand. I had heard Sharon Schamber talking with some women from Japan and she said she used over $600 in silk thread for "Mother Earth", so I thought I would try it. I'll have to find out what brand she used. Silk does look fabulous! The very thin 100 weight silk in the bobbin made for a very clean look on an all cream colored back. The binding is a silk brocade and I wish I had made it wider so that it could be appreciated better. My DH wanted me to make a picture frame out of the fabric to finish off the quilt, but I ran out of time to do any experimenting. Perhaps some of you know of a book I can get that would give me that picture frame information. Overall this quilt pushed me, talked to me, and got me to do things I hadn't done before. Then my daughter named it "Sunday Kind of Love" after an old Etta James song, a favorite of hers and listening to the lyrics, the name fits beautifully. I purchased the silk in fat quarters at the Houston show in 2006 with no particular purpose in mind. This quilt must have been talking to me from the womb. I'll post some detail pictures for a closer look. Vicki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingstitcher Posted July 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Here's a view of the back. Naturally I had to make a pink heart label. Ha, ha. Cheesy, yes? Perhaps you can see how the YLI 100 wt thread is so inconspicuous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore1223 Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Very beautiful quilt!!! Great job quilting. Coleen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingstitcher Posted July 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Here's a shot of the leaves which are only stitched down the center using Monofil by Madira. Used the Monofil to attach the peony applique too - machine applique for flowers. Used the L bobbin filled with YLI 100 wt silk in my DM too and it ran beautifully. Can you believe no breaks on either the Millennium or the Huskavarna Viking? Amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingstitcher Posted July 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Here's a shot of the doily. All the hearts from the peacock feathers are turned edge - lots of time to get these done. Very relaxing to hand stitch. Used a vanishing point to create the lines. Hey, Colleen, didn't know I'd get a response while I was posting. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 that is beautiful Vicki. That had to be a labor of love. Congratulations on a very unique and georgous quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Vicki - this is fabulous. I love the dimensional part. And the colros are so wonderfull. The quilting is perfect for this piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 VICKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, that is amazing and all the descriptions you provided to explain it all. You have so much devotion into this little piece of art. It just ooooozes the sweet, lovely soul of Vicki. PS: I love Etta James' version of Sunday Kind of Love. The way she sings it...That song gives me the goose bumps! I am so proud of you and what you've done. Thank you for sharing it all and the information, too. You truly are a lovely jewel of a person. Shana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoriasews Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Wow, it takes my breath away. Will you show a closeup of the flowers as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Vicki, You did a great job. I just love the peonies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Wow..beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Very very nice.....hope to see it in person someday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 That is just beautiful!! The deminsional leaves are so awesome...and the peonies, I love 'em!! Way to go getting those background lines so straight and even....good thinking!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crafty Unicorn Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 That quilt is lovely. Now I don't feel so bad that my Hoffman Challenge is still in pieces on the cutting table. "Birds of a Feather" would have never stood a chance. But this is the farthest I have gotten on a national challeng so far. Maybe next year I will actually get an entry finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoleneK Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Wow - Beautiful!!!! Defiantly a labor of love. I bet you were excited at each step. What is the finished size? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KerryM Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 What a beauty!!!!!!!!!!I'm no an applique person, so I always marvel at the patience of someone who is. That is georgeous! I have a question about working with silk. I made a silk quilt for my nephew when he got married, before I had my own long arm. It had embroidered blocks, gathered sashing, and a good size border. The lady that I asked to quilt it for me said you can't quilt on silk with a LA. Obviously you can.I loved the quilt and was happy with the piecing and embroidery, but was disappointed to have to finish it with SID. Some awesome uilting would have made the quilt. Does anyone out there have any suggestions or tips on how to accomplish this. Or do you treat it the same as every other fabric. My DSD is in the process of making a silk quilt, and will quilt it herself on my machine. Just want to be ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennan100 Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Vickie, this just knocks my socks off! You do so well on the details in all of your work, I really admire that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingstitcher Posted July 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Thank you Coleen, Patty Jo, Linda, Shana, Victoria, Heidi, Cheryl, Bonnie, Mary Beth, Leslie, Jolene, Kerry, and Kennan - hugs to you all for your wonderful praise. All along I was exploring with this quilt and trying to think how I could make my vision come to life. Laying in bed just thinking about it was very rewarding. It was a strange experience to not know the ending but to trust that the quilt would talk to me. When I was trying to decide on threads for the flowers, the Monofil just popped out of my machine's storage box. When the quilt didn't want the color of the fifth flower a spill happened that ruined it and I had to start over. When I stitched green onto the lower background it didn't look right and I had forgotten to set the channel lock and so the stitching was crooked, so I took it out and put in the light blue. There were so many of these incidences and I had heard this from the famous quilter Barbara Olson. She said that sometimes the quilt will sit for days and she will look at it and not know what to do until it told her the solution. She started making a flower quilt and she kept seeing a bird in it, so made it into that. Leslie, your Hoffman quilt is just talking to you and saying think about me and when you have the answer you will finish me. I was up to 6:00 am on Thursday morning, the day before the deadline of the 25th, so all along I kept thinking that I would finish it and if I made the deadline then great, but the quilt had to be created. Size is 27" x 42". There is a size range to follow in the rules. I know they fold these quilts to ship them from place to place. I just wish that they would roll them instead. I just visited my university professor and she was showing me many of her fiber art pieces and they were all rolled. She said that by rolling them they stay nice for a lifetime. Diane Gaudynski uses silk for her quilts and can you believe she uses a DM? I called the dealer who sold me the YLI silk thread and she said that it runs well on the DM and that Diane would like to know if anyone can successfully run it on the longarm. I ran the bobbin and about ten feet in the top, but then it started breaking on the top. Kerry - go ahead and use it on both the top and bobbin on your DM so you can create the beautiful spaces between the stitches. In reading Diane's book Quilt Savvy she talks about quilting not for the beauty of the stitches but for the beauty of the spaces between the stitches. I really like that philosophy. I'm at the Long Beach quilt festival yesterday and today. It's a great show. Of course I have seen a lot of repeats which is actually an advantage because I am looking with new eyes. Myrna Ficken and Cheryl Uribe were in the booth which had a lot of traffic. There is an exhibit of West Coast quilts and a movie theater of Hollywood themed quilts. One looks like a Dear Jane only each square is a quiz as to what movie it is, i.e. a pink colored panther for Pink Panther, very clever. Thanks again for the kudos. Vicki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renae Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Vicki your quilt is wonderful and soooooooo artistic....WOW!!!! You really did a fantastic job. It certainly is a ribbon winner for sure. I love your flowers........can you post a close up of them please?? Your applique work is great..........I keep trying because I love hand work. I have been working on an English Paperpiecing Quilt.....and by the time I am finished I should be very good :D. Renae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcclannan Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 This response should be empty because I am speechless !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Vicki, You have more than met the challenge! Stunning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merelling Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Very very nice quilt!!! Great job quilting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadows4 Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 I've said it before and I'll say it again: You are one of the most talented folks on this site!!!! You do such unique work and it's always top quality! I love what you did. It's absolutely gorgeous! Way to go, Vicki!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingstitcher Posted July 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 How's this for close up on the flowers? I cropped the image so you can see it better. The flowers were the hardest part of the quilt because the shades of pink to work with the cartoon drawing left me puzzled. I redid the bottom one with the yellow spots two times! The first two were more complicated and darker which overtook the stage. On the little picture there was a mass of leaves on the right side and it didn't look right so I put in another flower instead and made it similar in color to the left outside one. I thought about stitching some intricate petal shapes and did several drawings. Then resolved that the just quilting along the color changes would be the most appropriate. I'm not an intricate longarm stitcher. In fact, I took the quilt off the longarm and stitched the flowers on my DM. You'll laugh at this one. I slit the inside white background cloth underneath the flowers large enough to put my hands inside and then put in some extra batting. The flowers looked like they were wearing pushup bras! Just like Diane Gaudynski said, the extra fullness caused the outside edges of the quilt to ripple. So I removed the extra batting and these flowers are just A Cups. I had taken a beading class and was considering putting on some beading. Martha Nordstrand, my instructor for the applique technique said "don't guild the lily". At Quilt Camp in the Pines (www.quiltcamp.com) John Flynn and Joe Cunningham held up my unfinished quilt top with a pinned on trellis and leaves for show and tell evening. That was a treat to have these famous national teachers holding up my quilt. I began talking and nobody seemed to be listening. They were just staring at the quilt and you could hear a pin drop. I thought - the quilt is talking to everyone now and wants to be finished before the deadline. After this experience I was very concerned about having only four days to do the quilting and finishing. Praise to Martha Nordstrand for her support and encouragement up at camp. She sat down with me after her class and I breathed a sigh of relief just talking to her. Thank you again for all your cute comments. Today was another great day at the Long Beach Quilt Festival. Boy they have a hit on their hands. Lunch food ran out again today and attendance seemed really high. There was even a highly energetic attendant in the restroom helping to fill the stalls quickly. My Paducah roommate Nellie from Santa Barbara came down on a bus of quilters and we had a fabulous time. I'm going to learn how to Tat for my next quilt. That's the great thing about shows, all the resources are under one roof and it's packed with inspiration. Quilters don't even mind that you bump into them. Vicki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 Simply Brilliant and so pretty.. Congrats on a job well done. RitaR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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