So, I have finished my quilt from the Ineke Berlyn workshop that I did last week. I am really pleased with the way it has turned out. I enjoyed the hand quilting on it and the dense machine quilting worked really well. I couldn’t resist stitching a few beads on, and found some turquoise tear-drop-shaped ones which were exactly the right size to fit in the pieces:
And I added a few small almost seed beads to an orange strip which needed bringing into order:
It was refreshing to stitch some seams for a change and to use a wide range of prints. I usually use plain silks or hand-dyed fabric, so the prints in this make it sparkle a bit. I think the borders worked surprisingly well – I was intending to use very dark or black cloth, but in the end the dark petrol blue made it look much moodier. I like to think there’s a storm brewing.
The orange piece here has colonial knots which are supposed to look a bit like cabbages or some other crop. This is supposed to be a summer landscape so cabbages might not be in season. I should spend more time gardening and less time french knotting.
Anyway, I do like this, which I didn’t when I first finished the central panel. It looked really garish, even for me and I like bright colours. I was intending to put a tulle over the top, but in the end only had to knock back the turquoise strip of sky in the centre. But, once I put the house and trees in and then the borders on the whole thing seemed to tone itself down. And everything looks better when you get the binding on. I think this would like nice with a plain wide frame, boxed and floated, as they say in the framing trade. I think this will bring out its picturely quality. All I need now is a good framer.
It’s wonderful!
Thanks – I really am always amazed at how much better everything looks when you trim it up or put a border on it!