Stage 4: Quilting and Finishing

The last stage of this piece is the quilting and finishing. When I drew the idea in my sketchbook, I did not have any particular ideas about the quilting. Most of the time, my ideas don't include quilting lines and I have to think about them as I'm working or after the piece is all together. Sometimes, the quilting is part of the initial idea.

This piece, I wasn't sure how to quilt. I drew out some ideas on a clear sheet of plastic (with a dry erase marker) on top of the quilt. Here is what I decided upon. I think the curvy lines are a nice juxtaposition to the rectangular blocks. I decided to echo the leaf shape in one section to help tie it together. There is also a thought behind the growing leaf shapes (I'll explain another time).




To completely finish it, the edges have to have some treatment. Most of the time, I put on a traditional binding. I did not want that extra little border for this piece, so I did the facing technique. I will also need to put on a sleeve for hanging and a label on the back.

This is the "play-along" piece for the Twelve by Twelve group's current theme which is identity. I am way early in completing it. Therefore, I will put it on my blog again when they reveal theirs and give my explanation on how it fits with this theme.