This month the Island Batik Ambassadors were allowed to choose what they wanted to do for a challenge. I was in the mood to paper piece. I wanted to do something intricate so I started playing in Electric Quilt and this is what I came up with. Originally I was only going to do the outer ring, but the blank center called for more.
I started with a beautiful pile of salmon, red, and purple batiks leftover from another project. I knew I wanted to play more with that color palate. I added black for contrast. Once I'd pieced the first section I auditioned background fabrics. I decided on the lightest one you see at the bottom.
Outer ring complete! I was so excited. Now to design a center because putting one fabric in there was going to look like a hole.
A fully designed center. Those itty bitty pieces in the very middle are less than 1/4" wide! I decided to use 1/8" seam allowances and my Aurifil thread and Schmetz Microtex needles were up to the task. The only regret is that I sewed it all in cream instead of black and you can see the stitching.....but that's what a black sharpie is for.
All assembled and read to add to the background.
Now to figure out how to quilt it! I use a large piece of plexiglass and a dry erase marker. This one doesn't work.
I love feathers, but they don't fit this design.
I love this design idea! Now to mark it and layer it with my favorite Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly batting.
Starting to stitch. I decided to use a very dark gray instead of black for the sake of my eyes. Black on black is very hard to quilt. Plus I like that you can see the stitching better.
Project complete! I love this one.
I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy