Thursday, July 20, 2017

Catch a Wave

This week brought a finish for the turtle quilt (see previous post), including a two-toned binding and a little "bling" for the turtles. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)

The water got a little "bling" as well. This pricey, one-yard length of cording was purchased at the Paducah, KY AQS quilt show about 5 years ago. At the time I had no idea what I'd do with it, but couldn't resist the color and the subtle sparkle.

It turned out to be the exact color of the water in this turtle quilt...and even more fortuitous, the exact length needed to follow the sea foam curve across the entire width of the quilt!

(I long ago stopped questioning the wisdom of my quilting Muse. She just knows.)


The cording was couched onto the quilt with a free motion zigzag stitch and a 100-weight (very fine) poly thread.
The turtles' embellishments are subtle, too, and cost me nothing. All I did was get out my late mother-in-law's jar of old buttons and, after auditioning several, sewed one on each turtle's shell. (First time for attaching buttons using my sewing machine...super fast and easy!)











Paint markers and Sharpies were used to shade the legs and heads (and, in one case, conceal the obvious turtle head overlapping one turtle's shell).


And here's the finished quilt, titled Catch a Wave:

(excuse the pins)
A two-toned binding was chosen, because an all-around turquoise emphasized the water too much and cooled the quilt down, while an all-around red-brown warmed it up too much and looked out of place next to the water. But the red-brown definitely makes the turtles "pop" more.

The quilting is a little more obvious in this next photo.


Confession: Several times during the making of this quilt, I wanted to put my bare feet in that water. I guess that's a good sign...of what, I'm not sure. Probably that I need a vacation. :)

'Til next time,
Linda

11 comments:

  1. What a wonderful use of materials. Love the buttons on each turtle and the subtle rock shading in the water. And then there's the quilting. Two thumbs up!!!

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    1. Thank you, Rhonda! This one was somehow faster and easier to do than some. I think I really wanted to get those baby turtles safely on their way. lol

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  2. The water is amazingly life-like!

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    1. Louise, I think that's a fairly recently produced fabric, which I found in our local quilt shop just a month or two ago. I can't find a selvage at the moment, but will look again tomorrow. It may be a Northcott.

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  3. I love it! You did a wonderful job with the design and quilting. Not only does the water look tempting, the little turtles look ready to walk off the edges. Just a beautiful work all together. Thank you for sharing. :-)

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    1. Thank you so much, Karen. This was an especially enjoyable one, as I have loved turtles all my life.

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  4. Once again, you amaze with your talent - I love this one! I missed your last post so wondered about the shading on the rocks but sure enough you explained the process on the previous post. And the binding is a perfect choice. Well done!

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    1. Thanks, Carol! This was the first time I wasn't nervous with the tulle, after using it on a few previous quilts. Even ironed the storage wrinkles out of it with no problem, with the tulle sandwiched between the tracing paper layers on a low heat setting.

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    2. Actually, it wasn't so low--I think it was the wool setting, but I didn't linger. lol

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  5. I did it! I went back and read every single one of your posts and enjoyed them all. I've learned a lot about landscape quilting and now just have to put some of what I've learned into my practicing.

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    1. Wow, I appreciate hearing this more than you know! Thank you so much for taking the time to read all these posts. I'm thrilled that they were helpful and that you are encouraged to keep going. Landscape quilting is more fun than I can say and has added a whole new dimension to my life. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

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