Seascape Phase I


Yesterday I played around with the fabrics for the Seascape quilt trying to decide how to line them up for the main part of the quilt - the sky, sea, and sand. The first photo shows the sand colors in reverse of what I decided to do in the end. The reason being is that the sand closest to the water line is usually darker because it is wet. So I reversed the fabrics this morning when I was stitching the colors together.

I'm not certain about the straight line at the junction between the sand and the water. I may change that since it won't be hard to do. I just need to live with it for a day or 2 before I decide - unless you want me to change it Barbara. The straightl line at the sea and sky junction is what you see in nature so I'll leave that.

I drew the design on freezer paper - long sheets 45 inches long and 18" wide taped together to make a sheed of paper approximately 54x45". I then drew lines for the horizon and the junction between the sand and sea. Then drew some wavey lines for the water and the sand. I labeled and cut them out one by one, ironing them onto the right side of the fabric. Then I turned under the edge that overlaps the previous fabric - such as the top edge of the bottom sand fabric is turned under then overlaps the 2nd sand fabric from the bottom. I glued the 2 pieces together using washable school glue and heat set the seam with an iron, then sewed them together topstitching them with a 3-step blanket stitch. It's hard to see on this photo but the topstitching gives the quilt top a little added dimension. After all the fabrics were topstitched together in sections - all sea together and all sand together, I stitched the sky to the sea and then the sea to the sand using a regular 1/4" seam and turning the seam allowance towards the darker fabric. Then I went back and topstitched over those 2 seams.

The top so far measures 42" wide by 62" long - or will once I trim the edges. I cropped the photo so you can't see the uneven edges-ha! But the top hangs straight so that will make the rest of the process a lot easier.

Next step is to make the appliques for the trees, leaves and greenery and perhaps a beach house and a beach umbrella - depending on how much room I have. Then I'll applique them on and put on the borders. All that will be left is the quilting :D

Susan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Log Cabin

Image
I don't know the title of this quilt, but it is a Log Cabin Variation that I just completed for a customer. I love the soft blues and browns in this quilt.  It just begged for feathers. See what I mean? I did add a few leaves in the small border, though.
Read more

Zipper Leader Tutorial - Part 1

Image
I removed my old zippers yesterday and completed attaching my new zippers. Along the way I made 2 additional sets of zipper leaders so I have the ability to have 3 quilts ready to zip on if I need to. As promised, I took photos of the steps and will post them in stages. These directions are my own and you may be able to find other instructions out the internet. This is something I came up with on trial and error. The first set of zipper leaders I made were with garment zipper that you buy by the yard at a fabric store. They didn't work out the way I wanted. They kept separating on their own. So now I have 8 yards of zipper to use in other projects. First off you'll need some materials and supplies. 1. Canvas Duck - I purchased 4 yards of 60" wide canvas so I wouldn't have to seam the leaders. This is enough to make 5 sets of 2 leaders. Buy the length to match the length of your zippers. 2. Separating Zippers in the size of your choice - I purchased 144" long zippe
Read more

First Things First

Image
Here is the first step in remodeling my quilting studio. We bought a folding table and a student chair on wheels so I now have a place for my sewing machine! I'm so excited. No more running up and down the stairs to sew, press, quilt, etc. Everything can now be done in the studio. My youngest can also play with her playdough on the table instead of on the cloth cover of my ironing board :o Of course I still don't have finished walls, but I can work in comfort all in one room until we get to that point. My DH and I priced drywall and other options for the walls this afternoon. Drywall is still our number 1 choice at this moment, but I wanted to see if we could find something that I could handle by myself and yet still be cost effective. Drywall sheets are too heavy for me to lift on my own and hang on the walls. Hubby's job is too hectic these days for him to take any time off to hang drywall and I'm getting anxious to complete the studio, so I thought we should try to f
Read more