Wednesday, July 29, 2009

SQ7: Finished

It's not technically quilt season, and in fact nobody's doing much of anything right now while a massive cloud of superheated steam rests sullenly atop the City of Roses. But last week I got a sudden burst of quilting mojo and, over the course of three or four nights, did the quilting and binding for StormQuilt #7. And here it is:


Again, like all of the StormQuilts, this one is made completely from scrap and salvage materials. Here's a detail showing the squiggly quilting, which came back to me pretty easily despite not having practiced for the better part of a year.


Then, having finished that, I put all my sewing stuff back away for another month or so. This little burst of activity was kind of like the "exhibition season" before quilt season kicks off in earnest at the beginning of September. Until then, I'll be continuing a gradual deep-clean of my studio space and planning out my quilt priorities for the fall. See ya then!

7 comments:

Rebel said...

that's awfully pretty for a storm quilt. I love the cool colors.

Debra Dixon said...

An excellent quilt--just enough of the red (pink) to complement the blues nicely.

Libby said...

Not bad for an exhibition game! Well, not bad at all, really.

Elizabeth said...

Oooh, I like this one.

Elaine said...

I love the fact that you took salvage and achieved a very pleasing palette and design. I might not have gone back far enough, but I could not find the answer to this question: what machine are you using to quilt these quilts? (I assume you are dropping feed-dogs and using a free-motion foot.) Great job!

Michael5000 said...

@Elaine: The key to getting a decent palette with salvage is collecting a LOT of salvage. I'm blessed with storage space.

I use a fairly basic 1974 Kenmore machine. Its dogs can not drop, so I have a darning plate for use with the free-motion foot. The main technical problem I have to deal with is thread tension, which for some reason is very finicky when I do free motion.

Elaine said...

I had a 1968 Kenmore for a lot of years, sewed many a mile! and I recall the cover plate. Worked great, though I never quilted with it. I suggest trying some different threads-- (not all are created equal--as your machine may handle one better than another for FM.) And I learned to clean out the hook race at each bobbin change-- some threads are VERY linty. I have also switched to Sharps or Microtex needles, testing for size by making sure a needle will slide down a length of thread; (if not, it's too small a size.) All of this makes me wish I could still hand quilt, come to think of it!
One of the coolest things re your SQ7 is the luminosity. Great eye!