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| As most of you know, I'm always wanting to try something new in my quilting journey. While working on my ever-growing list of projects (sound familiar? lol) I've been mulling over the idea of a whole-cloth quilt. Have any of you ever done one? If so, do you have any tips or advise? I've never done any needlepoint, and haven't done any handsewing since I was about 13 or so, more than 30 years ago. So, I was thinking a small project would be best, maybe a lap quilt about 40"x40". I also thought it would be more fun if I made the design myself. I know usually they're symmetrical, but I was thinking of doing varied sizes of goldfish, using dark yellow and gold threads on either a white or light blue solid piece of fabric. The picture is a rough sketch of how I might do it. |
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| Well, that's more like thread-painting than standard whole-cloth type quilting. If you'll be doing this on a quilt sandwich, keep the motifs fairly large, so you can get the details in without an enormous build-up of thread. But, then again, some whole-cloth quilts have danged tiny stippling! For the goldfish, do consider some of the shiny polyester threads - I prefer them over rayon thread for their colorfastness. My favorite is Mettler Poly-Sheen 40 weight. Lots of colors available, and plenty of golds, yellows, and oranges which are shiny to look almost metallic, but without all the issues. |
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- Posted by dan_the_mailman (My Page) on Sat, Jul 28, 12 at 22:52
| I just watched a tutorial by Leah Day on youtube, and got some great ideas on how to get started. How cool is that? I think the big decision now is how to mark the cloth with my design, once I decide on it. Lol, would you believe that I'm now thinking of a celtic knot kind of design now? I like how fluid things can get when we're quilting. Ideas just seem to come from everywhere once you're in the zone, don't they? |
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| Dan, wholecloth doesn't have to be hand stitched unless you want it to be. Google Karen McTavish for some amazing images. |
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| I don't know anything about whole cloth quilting but it seems that you would have to fill in the background with some stippling or cross hatching. You could do that part in thread the same color as the background. |
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- Posted by dan_the_mailman (My Page) on Sun, Jul 29, 12 at 14:51
| Kate, I wound up watching her videos for almost an hour, and learned quite a lot. Thanks for directing me there! I wish I had a longarm quilting machine, it would make things so much easier, wouldn't it? Fran, if I stick with the goldfish theme, I was thinking about filling it in with stitches waves, and maybe some seaweed. The more I learn about this, the more ideas I'm having, which is what is supposed to happen, right? Lol! |
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| Dan, My first quilt was a white whole cloth I was so green I didn't know that it actually had a name lol. I think the goldfish would look great embroidered and the four around them could be hand quilted easily. I marked mine with the blue washout pen. I read where you can draw the design on water soluble embroidery stablizer, embroider or quilt over it and wash it out. Hand work is very relaxing and it's fun to keep your first project to compare how much better you get lol!!!! Start small 'cause I did not and it took me 3 years to finish. |
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- Posted by dan_the_mailman (My Page) on Tue, Jul 31, 12 at 17:47
| I can't believe how lucky I was today. I went to joanns after work to get some material to use in the next bunch of blocks I'll be sewing soon for the birthday block exchange, and decided to check out their white on white fabric. Would you believe they had some with a grid on it? Lol, the squares are 3/8" x 3/8", perfect for drawing some designs on! I also got my embroidery needles and big 105 skein mix of colors. I also found a 14" hoop for under $5, so I'd say I'm well on my way to trying this out, wouldn't you say? Now all I have to do is decide on a pattern (still thinking goldfish) and get cracking. I'll post more along the way. A Big THANK YOU to Everyone for Your Input!! I really appreciate it, and please, keep it coming. The more we learn, the better off we all are, right? Be Happy! |
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| Thanks for bringing this subject up, Dan. I am inspired and looking forward to finishing up a project then start a small trial of this method. I had not heard of it before....thanks again. Quilting Wannabe, Nanny |
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