Hi Everyone!
Does time seem to speed up? Sure is for me! Wow, already mid-March.....I recently had the pleasure to quilt the 2018 raffle quilt for Cabin Branch Quilters (CBQ) called, yes, you guessed it, Riverbed. "Riverbed is an original design by Judy Martin from her book, Piece 'n' Play Quilts. Used with permission." The raffle quilt organizer, Carol Moonan, changed the layout a tad, which I really liked. The layout she chose has a center 'pond' area. Perfect! Carol gave me free reign on the quilting design. Oh, yeah! Don't you fellow quilters' love that word - Free Reign - I even love the sound of it! So, with quilt name and layout in mind, I spent a lot of time sketching out ideas and settled on the design. Unfortunately, my original sketch got tossed in the trash. Long story but bummed I was! I usually always sketch out my design and have it handy as I quilt. Sometimes, I even take a picture of it for my digital records. No, I didn't get that far before the sketch was lost. Note to self, not to let that happen again!
Okay, back to the design. I new that I wanted the center of the motif to be a circle...then as I doodled ideas I kept going back to the pool / pond idea with the Riverbeds branching out. Then, thinking about wonderful childhood memories spending time outdoors with my family skipping and throwing rocks in water, the center design started to come together. Growing up we were always camping, fishing, hiking - spending time in nature. I have the best memories with Dad and Mom and my three (3) sisters visiting lakes, rivers, the ocean, and spending time in the mountains in Washington State where I grew up. From these wonderful memories came the idea of ripples going outward from the center pool then flowing down the riverbeds....
I decided to get an accurate drawing of the center pool area so that I would be sure to get the design centered correctly the first time. I literally taped pieces of tracing paper together, laid it over the quilt and gently and lightly traced the pattern. The lines were darkened with a hard surface underneath. As you can see in the picture, I labeled the light area and took measurements. I did not want any surprises when it came time to transferring the design on to the quilt top. By doing this, I was able to easily see where center was and audition my swirls in a couple different sizes. Yes, this took a little bit more time, but it would have taken me a lot longer to pick stitches etc.
When I was at Birds of a Feather in February I had the privilege to take classes and meet many wonderfully talented quilters! Oh man, it was a great time! Gina Perkes, The Copper Needle, has some fabulous stencils. (If you haven't had the opportunity to take a class from her, definitely put it on your bucket list.) Yes, I purchased several of her stencils and used her 12 inch stencil to mark guide lines. I used these guide lines and seam lines to get my design placed properly in the center pool area.
The thread I used was Fantastico number 5041 with Bottom Line 606 in the pool and riverbed area, and So Fine 50 wt. number 504 and Bottom Line number 623 in the light area from Superior Threads. Fantastico 5041 was absolutely a perfect match. The pebbles on the outside of the riverbed area were quilted using InvisiFil number 114 and DecoBob number 114 from WonderFil. I did not want a lot of visible thread build up and I wanted the pebbles to blend in which is why I went with such a fine thread in that area.
The quilting was so much fun to design and quilt and reminisce of childhood memories! Thank you Carol and CBQ for trusting me with your 2018 Raffle Quilt!
Anyone interested in purchasing raffle tickets please visit the CBQ website for more information. The proceeds will go to a charity that has yet to be chosen. Your support would be greatly appreciated!
Bye for now....
Julie
#longarmquilting #quilting #superiorthreads #WonderFil #cabinbranchquilters