Thursday, April 7, 2016

Six Dark Background Blocks Quilted!

I've quilted the six dark background blocks in my hexagon BOM! There was the snowflake which I chose to use a metallic thread and play on the snowflake idea.

Next up was the bee hive block. Because each of us were given two free standing embroidered bees, I planned to have a "bee line" for each. The background is quilted in three different patterns of swirls.

I was feeling like I was on a roll! Then came the anchor! I wanted to quilt a rope around it. I also thought about quilting water in front of it. But, that black background had me stumped. I also didn't have a rope design that fit the anchor. So, sketching was in order. 

Truth be told, my drawing abilities are close to nil. But, I started with a curve I liked, added a second line equal distant from the first line and then filled in with slanted lines to create the rope.

I actually liked what I drew! Next, I traced the rope on another piece of paper; cut it out and traced/drew it on my block. Next up was quilting it. 





When I outlined the rope in a light grey, it was too transparent. I didn't photograph it so I can't share it with you. Next, I tried to fill it in with a dark gray thread. 









It still looked too transparent so I stitched it with silver metallic thread! 
Usually, I cringe at working with metallic thread because it shreds. This worked well. The only shredding issues I had was when I was stitching on top of several layers of metallic thread. It played nice with my machine!

Starting the process, I knew I would lose the segments, so I thought that if I stitched one segment horizontally and the next segment vertically, I'd retain the rope look. Nope. . .I was surprised at how the metallic thread which is a Glide product, didn't show the directional stitching.







So, I outlined those segments in black which looks great. I decided stitching a wave design on black was going to be too challenging so I filled in the background with pebbles.














I had fun stitching the rocket. These are the threads I used to stitch this block! I stitched the fireworks with the sulky metallic sliver thread and again, my machine stitched it like it was cotton. I've had these threads for years; but my previous machines were much pickier with metallic threads! 












To figure out the fireworks, I looked online at some line drawings and then drew a few to see which ones I thought would translate best in thread. It was fun picking the threads and even more fun to see the results!

I also had to add a little more flame/exhaust to the rocket! For the background, I meandered so that the fireworks would come forward a bit.











For the tree, I decided to go for a more traditional kind of background and I used straight lines stitched a quarter inch apart. Some lines are horizontal, some are vertical and some lines are diagonal. I used silk thread.














Last, I stitched the pumpkin. Again, I decided to go for a more traditional kind of background. I repeated the straight lines; but, varied the distance at three eighths of an inch and only used diagonal lines also stitched with silk thread.

The last two blocks gave me a chance to practice some more with the ruler. I have found that if I rest the ruler to the right side of my foot, it bumps up against where the foot attaches to the machine. This is a secure spot and works well. I did have to adjust my quilting though because it limits the direction that I can quilt!


Next up is quilting the sashing. I'd like to do something Judi Madsen or Angela Walters like. I did a little sketching.



















I thought that I'd get a lot of great ruler practice. Turns out, I can't go in the direction that I need to go and my chalk marking doesn't last long enough! 

I'll have to think some more! Do you have a solution or two?

12 comments:

Nancy said...

I love how you are customizing the quilting in each block! And how you are completely following your muse! When straight lines are short, I often just free-hand them. With a little practice, you can get some pretty straight lines and your eye will tend to straighten out any baubles. Angela Walters free-hands a lot of her short straight lines.

Luann Fischer said...

Great work, Terry

Monica said...

Wow, Terry you are really going all out on this one. It looks fantastic! That rope is a great idea. And, did you use a ruler on the first star? Very neat!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Nancy, I sometimes free hand lines. My future goal is to be able to work with a ruler and thought this would be a good practice project. So far, I'm learning what NOT to do. I wonder how much "learning" I get to to before I get a ruler technique worked out!--Terry

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Thanks, Luann! So great to hear from you!--Terry

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Hi Monica and THANKS!! I drew lines and quilted on the lines. . .then once I figured out the pattern, I just eyeballed where I was going. . .although, I did get a little mixed up and got to do some reserve sewing. It would have been smarter to mark all the lines so I didn't "get creative!" --Terry

She Quilts It said...

I love your quilting on this piece.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Thanks, Joanne!--Terry

Diane-crewe said...

wow x it looks wonderfulx

BJ said...

You seem to be having fun and are doing a wonderful job on this. Lovely! :D

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Diane, Thank you! It has been a process which I wish I could do faster!!!!--Terry

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

BJ--It has been fun at times. . .I just need to keep moving forward!--Terry