Challenge Quilt......The Big Reveal

Today was the day we revealed our

Challenge Quilts

Click Images to Enlarge:

Midnight in the Garden

34 x 46

Commercial Batik Fabrics

Raw Edge Fusible Applique

Free Motion Quilting

Hollyhocks, Cone Flowers & Carnations

This was top secret and I have been showing you little bits for months...

Tonight I can finally let you in on the secret.

CLICK HERE to view all of the Challenge Quilts

CLICK HERE to view all of my Challenge Quilt Posts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

Challenge Project.......Part 6

The deadline is looming for this Challenge Quilt...

I have been working on it, but haven't been able to share much with you...

The members of my challenge group read this blog, so I don't want to spoil the BIG REVEAL.

Click to Enlarge Images:

All of the applique has been fused down and the borders are on...

It is basted together...

This is the backing

Iris at the top and lupine on the bottom portion

I drew a chalk line to help me with placement as I free motion quilt the background.

The flowers are all quilted...

This YLI Green Variations thread should work nicely on the green leaves at the bottom of the quilt...

Lots of overlapping leaves and flower petals shapes are a challenge to quilt around.

The green thread is a good fit on the leaves.

Time to quilt the background areas:

I chose a purple variegated thread...

It is dark enough not to compete with all of the bold applique work,

yet bright enough to be able to see.

p.s. I tried black thread first.....it wasn't visible at all.

This completes the quilting on the interior of the quilt.

Time to quilt the borders...

I chose a burgundy variegated thread for the border feathers.

I made it all the way around the borders.

It is 9pm...

I am hungry and tired and ready to go back into the house for the night.

Tomorrow I will hyper-quilt the border with 24 KT thread...

More to Come~

CLICK HERE to view all the Challenge Quilt Posts

CLICK HERE to view my Apple Core Quilt

CLICK HERE to view my Quilted Bags

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full of Challenges,

LuAnn

Bloggers Quilt Festival...

This is my entry for the October 2010

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Click Image To Enlarge:

" Stormy"

By: LuAnn Kessi

To view a slideshow and watch Stormy in the making

CLICK HERE

Stormy..........Done!

Last night I put the finishing touches on

Stormy

Click Images to Enlarge:

Binding

Striped Batik.......cut on 45 degree angle

I cut the binding strips 1 3/4 inches...

They wrapped nice and tight around the edge and filled up the binding round and plump.

Your quilt is not complete until you sew the label on...

The song:

Milk River Ridge

By: Ian Tyson

Is a favorite of ours.

This quilt lends itself nicely to the machine quilting process.

As you top stitch over all of the applique' pieces, you are actually doing the machine quilting.

The only quilting I had to plan out was the background behind the horse, and I simply echo quilted the shapes around the horse head.

The border area only needed some wavy lines, no intricate quilting motifs.

The thread work remains secondary, so the horse is the main focus.

If you have a Toni Whitney pattern.....pull it out of the cupboard and treat yourself to a few hours of fun!

I have maybe 20 hours total into the making of this quilt.

It was a joy.

Stormy

CLICK HERE to view the Slideshow

CLICK HERE for......... Stormy Part 1

CLICK HERE for..........Stormy Part 2

CLICK HERE for my........Label Tutorial

CLICK HERE for my.......Binding Tips

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full of Horses,

LuAnn

Quilting Stormy...

I am working on Stormy today.

Let's see where the day takes us...

Click Images to Enlarge:

Stormy

I chose a medium brown batik for the inner border

Auditioning Final Border Fabrics:

I pulled a variety of light, medium & dark fabrics and arranged them around the edges.

Medium Browns are yummy...

Dark Fabrics...

Dark/Textured Fabrics...

Light Fabrics...

Medium Browns are too blendy with the inner border

Dark Fabrics are well......too dark

I love this fabric......but it just demands too much attention.

I want the horse to be center stage.

I like the light fabric......but I think I can do better

This fabric is light, but warm........the horse is the main focus.

I think we have a winner !

Basted and ready to go under the needle

Backing Fabric & Bobbin Thread

I chose a medium gray thread to blend into the backing fabric.

I plan to use 2 threads for the quilting on the horse.

There are a lot of different fabrics, and I don't plan on changing threads 30 times!

This medium brown thread will work for all of the lighter areas.

The size 75 needle will work nicely for this tiny 60 wt thread.

I warmed up on a quilt sandwich to get the tension adjusted:

I had to decrease the tension to nearly 1

All of the lighter fabrics have been quilted...

Face........Quilted

I am now ready to quilt the darker areas:

I chose a dark brown thread

All of the dark fabrics have been quilted:

Nose & Mouth........Quilted

I am using an off-white thread for the background behind the horse head:

I shadow stitched mane hair into the background fabric

Ready to Quilt the Border:

This golden yellow thread should work nicely

I want the border to be textured, but I don't want the stitches to be center stage and take away from the central horse image...

Border.......Machine Quilted

Next..... a binding treatment

I am calling it a day...

Here is the view as I push myself away from the sewing machine:

Gunnr & Suzy

The best Quilting Dogs I know

Gunnr 3 year old Boxer

Suzy 15 year old Jack Russell Terrier

CLICK HERE to see the first part of this post

CLICK HERE to see the completed Quilt

CLICK HERE for Machine Quilting Tips

CLICK HERE to view my Art Quilts

CLICK HERE to view Chicken Slideshow

CLICK HERE to view Jello Printing

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn