Monday, 7 July 2014

Gold Fever 2

It would seem that my Gold Fever of last week was contagious, judging by your comments. How I wish those words of appreciation, encouragement and commiseration could, like the wave of a Fairy Godmother's wand, turn simple cotton into the much sort after gold cloth. Sadly, in the real world, the only allusion to it on the web that I have been able to find was to say that it is no longer manufactured. Thank you so much for your kind words and suggestions. They were much appreciated and at least raised my spirits!

Should any of you - particularly those of you able to go to the big shows in the States - see this fabric, please get the suppliers name for me - tell him I'll buy the whole bolt!


So I have gone with the last of the fabrics I showed last week, hoping that it will not split again. Colour wise and consistency wise, it was the best of my trials. I have been wisely counselled by Pam to consider it 'different' rather than inferior! Here is the structure outlined, ready to have the blank areas filled with pattern.

Making my marks

As I said in the last post, none of the usual markers work on metallic fabric and stitching from the back didn't work with this one, as it stuck to the sewing table. Incredibly, felt tip pen does mark and washes off! It does dull the gold where the line has been, but once stitched over that is barely noticeable. Still, it is a bit nerve racking doodling all over fabric with a felt-tip pen!

Going around in circles

The title of this piece is going to be 'Cosmic Split' - so think vaguely of space, orbits and heavenly bodies. I did not want perfect circles. After googling 'how to draw perfect eclipses' and playing around with pin, string paper and pen, I decided I didn't want eclipses either. A lot of paper covered with a lot of 'circles' later, I decided just to draw the lot free hand. Above is the 'artistic' photo with garden in the background. Below is a clearer version.


Oh for a long arm! At least I imagine circles would be a lovely easy sweep on a long arm. On a DSM, even non-circular circles are tricky. It is not possible to do any but the very small circles in one. Every stop to readjust the fabric is an opportunity for an uneven stitch length. Every start is an opportunity for a needle jump to the side. And at no point can you see the whole track of the circle. The end is not in sight! Welcome to the universe of slightly wobbly heavenly bodies!

Tying off loose ends

... as in thread ends - well over 300 of them to tie off and bury. I wish I had taken a photo of them. It made a fair imitation of a fringe dress. Lots of threading needles and not knowing which part of my vary-focal specs to look out of!!!



Thanks for dropping by...


Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.
Anything goes Mondays @ http://marelize-ries.blogspot.co.uk/
Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/
Fabric Tuesday @http://quiltstory.blogspot.co.uk/    
Sew cute Tuesday @ http://www.blossomheartquilts.com/ 
Let’s Bee Social @ http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.co.uk
WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/
WOW = WIPs on Wednesdays  @ http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.co.uk/  
WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @ http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca
I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/
Really Random Thursdays @ http://www.liveacolorfullife.net/
Needle and Thread Thursday @ http://myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.co.uk/
Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/
Lizzie Lenard @ http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk/

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8 comments:

  1. Kaja7 July 2014 at 16:24

    Sounds like you had to overcome all sorts of hitches along the way but I really like where you got to with this. I love that your shapes are freehand and not too regular; it makes the whole thing look organic. And the fabric you have gone with looks good to me too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cynthia Brunz Designs7 July 2014 at 22:55

    Oh my, get you some easy thread needles for tying off those threads. They make the job super fast and you don't have to try and find the eye.

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  3. Diana @ Red Delicious Life8 July 2014 at 00:56

    After reading your previous gold post, I remembered how I was unable to mark a fabric that had a metallic sheen to it (it was a Michael Miller fabric). Here's how I figured out how to mark it -- I used Glad Press n' Seal. I'm not sure if it's available where you live and whether or not it's a practical solution if you need to mark the entire quilt. I only needed to mark up borders so it was manageable. Here's the post I made: http://reddeliciouslife.blogspot.com/2014/01/knowing-when-to-admit-defeat.html. Also, thanks for linking up to Anything Goes Monday!

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  4. Norma Schlager8 July 2014 at 13:55

    It's going to be fantastic! I, too, like the hand-drawn look to it. Can't wait to to see the finished product. How big will it be?

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  5. Anonymous8 July 2014 at 16:24

    Wish I had thought of this earlier for you but when I had trouble moving fabric I put water soluble on the top AND the back and was able to stitch without anymore problems.
    I think this is a fabulous piece and only hope someday I will get to see it in person at some show. It SHOULD be a winner!!
    Ruth

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  6. Anonymous9 July 2014 at 23:09

    Let me join the cheer for hand drawn circles! It is what I usually do except when I have a single circle to insert. I usually need the organic look more than perfect roundness. I do like the beginning of your quilting design and can't wait to see it with some filler. Yep, circles on a DSM are a major challenge.

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  7. Muv17 July 2014 at 22:28

    Hello Hilary,

    I like the fact that the circles are irregular. Half the stuff in space is just great clouds of gas anyway, so the more uneven the better, surely.
    Thank you for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks!

    Love, Muv

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  8. Jo Ferguson18 July 2014 at 02:06

    Different is good. It's the organic nature of your circles that make it look Cosmic, to me. I'll keep my fingers crossed that all goes well because if it does, this will be an absolutely spectacular piece. No pressure!

    ReplyDelete

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