Sunrise Quilt Studio

The borders are finally on! The top and bottom borders are 16 inches wide and the side borders are 18 inches wide to make the entire quilt measure 96x85 inches - large enough for a full-sized bed. In the photo, the top border is folded over to keep the quilt top from touching the floor. My design wall isn't tall enough for this quilt. Now I have to figure out what to quilt on those wide borders :D Susan

So, I decided I wasn't done with the center panel afterall! I wanted to get a different view of the beach and add the Sand Island Lighthouse to the quilt. Or rather a loose version of the Sand Island Lighthouse. I added color to it. The original lighthouse is all white. If you were actually facing the Gulf of Mexico from the beach, the lighthouse would be on the left side of the quilt. Since I already had the palm fronds on the left, I put the lighthouse on the right side. If I had planned this all out before starting the quilt it would have been in the right place which would be the left side of the quilt, but this is an improvisational quilt so I took artistic license and moved things around. :) I just realized that this probably doesn't make any sense at all unless you are familiar with Dauphin Island, Alabama. That is my sisters favorite vacation destination. I have dozens of photos of the island - especially the beach, but this is a whimsical version of Dauphin Island with...

Today I worked for several hours doing the machine embroidery on the seascape quilt. I'm using Fusion thread by Singer on my domestic sewing machine. This is the first time I've ever used Fusion and I absolutely love it! It's a bit heavier weight than standard sewing thread and rayon thread so it gives a bit more dimension to the embroidery. I'm using a blanket stitch for all the appliques except the tiny pieces like the grasses and the handle on the beach umbrella. So far it looks really nice. I still have several more hours of work on the embroidery before it's done. For the borders I'm planning on a 1 inch inner border using the darkest blue fabric used in the ocean. Then the outer border will be the sky fabric and the darkest sand fabric. If I can get it to work I think I'll use the sky fabric for the upper part of the quilt changing to the sand fabric at the point where the sand starts on the inner pannel. Otherwise I'll add 2 more borders - a bord...

I believe I have the center panel of the quilt done :D See what you think. The appliques are still just pinned on, but I ran out of time and couldn't get them fused on tonight. I decided to add the hills of sand in the foreground to anchor the palm trees. The large palm leaves on the upper right hand side are to further push the composition into the distance and to balance the design. Once I get the appliques fused down, I'll machine applique around them then add the borders, quilt it, bind it, and it's ready! Susan

Here is the latest on the Seascape quilt. This evening I worked on the the layout of the appliques and created the palm fronds for the palm trees. Everything is still pinned in placed waiting to be fused. The rest of the greenery is waiting to be created and applied. Susan

I spent the weekend moving things around in my basement studio to make it more user friendly. My batting rack was blocking the design board so I had moved it infront of the storage shelves temporarily. I finally got around to moving that so the shelves were accessible again. I also cleaned off the drafting table so I can use that for cutting fabric. The walls still need drywall or some other material to finish them off, but that will be a summer project - or a fall project depending on how busy we are this summer. In the meantime, I plan to staple up bed sheets to cover the insulation. The basement is way to dreary for me and I'm finding myself avoiding quilting because of it. Time to do a quick fix on those walls! I took some time last night to work on Barbara's seascape quilt again. I took it down off the design wall and trimmed it up. I know it looks trimmed in the photos I've posted, but that is because I cropped the photos :) It's squared up now. Of course I had to...

I've spent a couple of hours today working on Barbara's Seascape quilt. The palm tree and cloud appliques where drawn and fused onto fabric yesterday. Today I cut them out and chose the fabrics for the house and the beach umbrella and fused the web onto those fabrics. Next came assembling the house and fusing it into once piece and the same with the umbrella. Then I pinned everything onto the quilt background where I thought they would look best, stepped back to get a better look, then repinned almost every piece-ha! This is what I have as far as placement at this point. That may change as I continue to add to the quilt. I'm planning on a beach bucket, beach towel and maybe a pair of flip-flops if I can draw them small enough. I still have to do the greenery, too. Susan