Chicken Update--Still Anchoring

Threads ready to tie

It has been about a month since I last posted about this project. I have been quilting. It takes time to stitch in the ditch, stitch around the appliqués, stitch around the letters; but, it takes about the same amount of time to tie all the threads!!!

Dark thread example

From the beginning when I had inked these letters, I planned to use a dark thread to stitch around the letters. I used a silk thread that was the color of the ink. After stitching two letters, I decided that even using a lighter brown silk thread would still be too dark and it would still bring more attention to that part of the quilt than I wanted. I decided to try the light thread that I've been using to stitch around the backgrounds.

Light thread example

I liked the lighter thread. It blends better. I'm planning some dense quilting in the background, although, I haven't decided just what that quilting is going to be. If I had gone with the darker thread, the outline would have been more prominent.

Outlining with the same thread that I'll use in the background will make the prominence on the word and not on the quilting.

Two of three lines stitched

After stitching several different styles of lettering, I was happy that I went with the lighter thread. I've inserted a photo so that you can see how stitching around the letters provides better definition for the eye.

That stitching also took up some of that fullness that I've been working to "quilt out," which was an unexpected plus. I didn't realize how much the fabric will draw up even with a few lines of printing!
Perhaps, you can see this effect in the photo above.

I've stitched around the bricks in the background fabrics in one of the borders. I hadn't planned to do this sort of detail; but, I'm glad that I went to the extra effort because the effect makes the rooster more prominent in the foreground. I hope that the photo will give you an idea of what I'm describing. Before you ask, yes, I created "tons" of threads to tie, bury and clip! Evenings, I've spent cleaning up the surface of the quilt so that the following day, I can do it all again!

Next, I'm stitching around the appliqués in the center of the quilt. I'm making progress. It is just slow. I'm still thinking about how to quilt the background of this quilt. I'd like to use different filler stitches for at least two reasons. First, different filler stitches will create different texture and that will give the eye something else to view and two only stitching one type of filler over and over and over. . .well, that is tough for me. Variety keeps my brain better engaged!

I still have some puffiness to contend with as I quilt. My fingers are still crossed that I will be able to quilt out the fullness and have a flat quilt at the end!