Quilting Arts Article!

I'm happy and thrilled to be working on my second article for Quilting Arts magazine, scheduled for April/May 2015! The technique I'll be writing about is the use of T-shirt transfer paper to put sketchbook drawings directly onto fabric. I'm planning on having two finished pieces and a step-by-step demo of my work to illustrate the article. Happy dance!

More Stitching on Healing Quilt

I'm liking the look and feel of the machine stitching to add texture and dimension. What a difference it makes! As I do more, it gets easier - even the picky little areas. I have lots more hand stitching to do, and the fabric is already getting stretched out but I can spray with water and put it in the dryer on low. Here in Colorado I can usually just put the damp quilt in the sun, but the weather is already starting to cool down. I have to say, I love early fall here. So fresh and lovely!

Adding Details

When working on a project, I have a (very loose) set of steps to fall back on if I'm not sure what to do next. The first one is; do the givens first. If you get busy and take care of the most necessary and obvious elements initially, then you're free to get more creative. At this point, I'm taking a more critical look at the quilt and letting it tell me what it needs next. What stood out to me is, add texture!! So, I unified the different elements with hand stiching in the same dark blue thread color. Now that that's done, I'm seeing that it needs some machine stitching over the top. And my question is: what to use for batting? I don't want to use the same fleece I've used for the last few projects. I'd like to find something one step thinner and easier to deal with. What about felt? I've never tried it, but maybe this is the time to take the plunge!