“Quilt as desired………..”

What happens to you when you read those words? A “blank canvas” staring at you can be an intimidating thing! At the end of a set of piecing directions, some magazines have provided wonderful diagrams/suggestions for this next step in the quilting process but, as in the case of a vintage piece, there is no piecing arrangement to use as inspiration so looking to the cut-work, embroidery or edge design may provide the needed direction for the stitching motifs to be used. My current project provided many such ‘sparks’ of inspiration. (The journey may be traced backwards from this post.) I’m in the homestretch of the piece, finishing up the outer accent border. The fabric “blender” I used is a piece of “Shadowplay” by Maywood.    As is glaringly evident, the feather theme continues. I felt there needed to be a more subdued feel so that there would not be a conflict with all that’s going on in the focal piece (and there’s certainly a lot going on there!!). I took my stitching cues from the design created in the vintage piece with their use of soutache braid creating the flowers and swirls. Switching to a dark green Isacord thread, I continued on the outer border. Some backing photos to better illustrate this (and, yes, the bobbin thread is, also, Isacord green)…………… . Although the stitching design itself is important, for me the element that must always be in the front of my mind is the texture contrast that is being created…..either visual or tactile. And to further make the feather plumes “pop”, I added the ‘toothpick’ straight lines to flatten the background even more.  Here’s a taste of how I will finish this border section. Please, stop back tomorrow for the conclusion/wrap-up.