Thursday, January 19, 2006

Rescued from the UFO Heap

My Best Beloved announced at Christmas that my gift would be a sewing room makeover.

He's been warming up to this project (read: waiting for me to get the family room picked up) and I knew Thursday was The Day. This was my cue to have a last minute sewing panic:

my view
Here's a little project started November 2004. For some reason, whenever I touch this project, threads begin to snap, needles break, and words are abused. This time I'm tackling it with Libby Lehman's 'Bottom Line' thread in the bobbin and a size 90 microfiber needle. The needle is to handle the tightly woven batik fabric, which sometimes gives me fits when quilting. I don't know why. It's just my path in this life.

started this a year ago
Another problem I had was that the heart is really the same value as the background. It's only defined by the collaged fibers around the edges. The bottom half was not highlighted with bright fabrics, so I enhanced the edge with a pale green thread. Now, at least, one can see the edges.

Here's a detail:
like my quilting?
The quilting thread is King Tut. I like it. No fuzz, no breakage. Nice subtle, varigated color. There's a giant dichroic glass cabachon for the center of the heart. And I'm thinking about mounting the piece on a wooden stretcher instead of the usual binding and rod pocket.

Will keep you posted

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very nice, Cathy. You are getting the makeover and I am getting a whole new building. Not all dedicated to studio space but, still.....New space is so exciting!! Glad it gave you the push to finish this piece.

teri