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Monday, July 6, 2009

Orchid #1, continued


I made a lot of progress today on my first orchid piece for the Fiber Art Options’ project we are hoping to turn into a traveling exhibition. After heat setting the paint with an iron, I trimmed out the painted orchid and hand appliqued it to a black background. I then layered it with batting (wool/poly) and an upholstery-weight backing, and pin basted it. You can see all the layers here:


Then I started machine quilting it, using 50 weight Aurifil Cotton Mako thread, which I love for this kind of work.

I added a slight suggestion of leaves in the background, but left it pretty much alone. I’m trying to decide if this is enough detail in the background. If I get up tomorrow morning and it still looks okay to me, I’ll finish it up and face it.

Here’s how it looks now:


This last photo was taken outside, so the colors are pretty true.

13 comments:

  1. Oh, wow! It looks amazing! How can you accomplish something like that with no a/c in the house?? I'd just be lying around complaining under a full-speed ceiling fan!

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  2. Susan - this is really coming along! I can't believe how much different the quilt looks after the stitching. It really gives it life!

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  3. Melissa,
    You hit the nail on the head... I always feel like my pieces are not alive until I quilt them.

    Alisan,
    I am quilting with windows open in the studio and two fans aimed directly at my body. Tempted to quilt naked, but since the windows are open, I don't want to offend the neighbors.

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  4. Susan that's really going to be gorgeous!!!!

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  5. Your stitching is amazing! I love everything about this piece.

    Have you thought about video taping yourself machine quilting? Hope that's not too oddball of a question. As I looked at the orchid piece I kept thinking to myself I would love to be able to watch you work. Of course, you can tell me to just wait for the TV show! Congrats!

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  6. Kathy: Yes, I've thought about video. I'd love to add clips to my blog. Rob (my husband) got me a Flip video camera and a tiny tripod for Mothers' Day, and I'm going to test it out. I need to get better lighting, I think.

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  7. Susan... I love the way this piece is progressing... and I love Orchids! It is amazing the different way the piece shows indoors vs outside :-).

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  8. What a difference the quilting makes! It looks amazing!

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  9. this is so beautiful! I am not a quilter...I know I am admitting this on your blog...sorry...but I love the colors and the stitching makes it pop!

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  10. This piece is going to be so beautiful. I am a big fan of lots of background quilting, so I would probably add more. But your flower will steal the show.

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  11. Susan,

    I've never liked orchids much until now! The machine quilting is beautiful and really brings out that pink.

    If you need help with your videos give me a call! I'd love to help you get started on You tube, you'd be a big hit!

    Piece,

    Leah

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  12. Thanks, Leah! I'll call you if I need help with the video thing!

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