In the Studio
Where frequently is heard, "What ever was I thinking?"
Chris' Quilt Dilemma
29 July 04
Below is the first picture I posted in an attempt to figure out how to finish my son's quilt. This is not meant to be an heirloom, or to win any prizes in any competitions. It was made with serious boy-friendly durability in mind! It needs to be machine washable and I fully expect him to wear it out.
The quilt is now all in one piece and my question was how to quilt it. Actually the binding is even on already. (Yes I know that binding is usually done after quilting - 'usually'.) I just need to stitch those layers together and make it DONE! I made the sample below to test the stippling stitch. I'm not great at it but would probably get a little better by the time I got done with the whole quilt.
However, it was pointed out that the stippling stitch is usually used to accent other aspects of a design and that stippling might be very time-consuming. That led me to realize that showing you the test sample alone was really misleading. So, I've posted a couple more pictures to clarify what the quilt is really like. There is a bit more to it than the dino print in the test sample. Feedback is welcome. I'm learning this stuff the hard way.
Chris' Quilt - Stippling test sample
Central panel of quilt
Here is a partial view of the front of the quilt - central panel. The panel was inspired by Chris' wallpaper border. I freehand sketched a scene from the border onto muslin. Than appliqued on the opposite side with the pencil lines as a guide and the colored fabrics beneath the muslin as I stitched. If you could see it up close you'd see some interesting stitch formations in the applique!
Note: The color variation in this picture is due to my having spliced 2 photos together to get the whole image. The fabrics are much more consistently colored than this. The 'sand' or ground color is actually all one piece, no seaming at all.
Also, not quite visible in these pictures, there is red metallic embroidery representing flowing lava, on the right-hand volcano. I may need to do a bit more work on that.
Whole quilt laid out on floor 
Here's the whole quilt including the rather odd piecing that I did to get the final dimension to be what I wanted for his bed. It looks rather square here, but that is due mainly to camera angle. It is actually very rectangular.
I need to do an allover stitch in the border areas. The scenic panel is another whole story and I have not made any decisions about it either. I've considered stippling the 'sand' or ground areas, as well as the 'lake' and 'sky'. Those would each be done in colors to blend with the appliqued fabrics. The back of the quilt would then show stippling on top of the dinosaurs as in the sample at the top of the page. The back side of the quilt is the dino print allover.
