Social separation offers time to do things I keep putting off…liking keeping up with my quilt documentation! I might even do some dusting….
My childhood friend, Marilyn, asked me if I could make a quilt using linens embroidered by her mom and her grandmother. All I could say was…haven’t done that, but I can try! So she trusted me with these beautiful, vintage, sentimental linens.
I went through many different plans (and spent hours on Pinterest and Instagram) before deciding how to proceed. Ultimately, I chose to place them on top of a background and quilt away. The background is Kaufman Radiance, a delicious cotton/silk blend. Once I decided on a layout, I fused each linen to the background using small bits of Misty Fuse; just enough to keep them in place during the loading process and until I could stitch them down. It was all very precarious, and required a lot of kneeling on that cement floor.
After it was loaded, and I do float my tops, I went from top to bottom, outlining each linen. Once that was done, I could advance or rewind the quilt without worrying about things shifting. I used clear mono filament thread to stitch down the outer fringe of embroidery on each linen. (I’m not even sure that’s called embroidery?) Finally, I could just start quilting each one. There are many identical pairs, which was helpful in that it cut down the number of ideas I had to come up with.
So what follows it just a slew of pictures cuz I couldn’t stop…and because I know I’ll never see it again. I loved creating this, and knowing it is for Marilyn and how personal it is…it was just a real pleasure.
The first few pictures show how I drew the circle design, and then made up the rest as I went along. I will say, there was very little ripping of stitches with this quilt! I just held my breath that it would look good, and got lucky!
Once the linens were all done, I had a lot of empty negative space to deal with. I did not want to get fancy cuz the linens are fancy enough. Those diamonds with the swirls in the center were the best I could come up with. Simple, and served the purpose of filling in the spaces.
The quilt is 86″ x 100″, queen size. The linens fit on the top of the mattress. This design covers the drop-off on the sides and bottom.
The top edge, above, has no drop off -just lays over pillows.
One plan I considered was to cut the linens up and frame them with flowery fabrics, sort of log cabin style. I bought the fabrics – then changed my mind. So I pieced the fabrics for the backing.
This has safely arrived in North Carolina, to live happily ever after.
Social separation may end up postponing play time with this doll face, but this too shall pass.
