Connections

Connections

Monday, March 26, 2012

The Finished Quilt


I can hardly believe I finally finished it. There were so many things that distracted me along the way and I must say that I finally see how much of a commitment there is to such an endeavor. There are so many stitches in this. And no there are no fancy stitches or perfectly lined up edges .. but it still manages to be a wonderful  quilt. The edge that I decided to go with was a recycled dyed t-shirt. The wonderful ochre/greenish color just seemed to be the perfect compliment to the black and grey and greens in the main parts of the quilt. It has an overall earthy feel to it and I just have to say .. I was really really pleased with the outcome.

Several of you have asked about the discharged leaves on the dark gray fabrics. Those were done using actual leaves in my yard. I either painted or sprayed the underside of a leaf where the veins are and then pressed onto the fabric and then the other images I simply used a branch of leaves as a stencil and sprayed the area around the leaves. This left a lovely impression of the leaf shapes. The center Leopard that you will see in the full finished quilt on the bottom was painted freehand by me with bleach also .. I have given some thought to creating an online class of my discharge techniques with more detail of my methods. Leave me a comment if you'd be interested in that.

Probably the most unexpected outcome of having done this quilt was the joy that I had in giving it away. I felt as though I learned a lesson. If you've never tried it .. you should!!

So here is the finished quilt. I had to climb up a ladder to see the whole thing. I suppose I could have put it up on a wall but I really don't have a good one for that. .. The very last thing that I had to do was wash it to make sure that everything stayed together and that any parts didn't shrink up and change everything. I was pleased that it washed up so nicely and it was even softer than before, a great cuddle blanket. I shipped it that same day and the owners have it and their son Royce loves it. And that made my day. Thanks everyone that came and posted on the previous blog post about this quilt. It's meant a lot to me to have your comments.
And please feel free to leave any for this one .. Goodness and light to all of you.