Eclipse is in the mail and a visit to Renee

Anne & I sent this little beauty off for the Hoffman Challenge yesterday.

Title: “Eclipse”

The challenge fabric is:

The fabric has to be used in an obvious way in the quilt.  Anne & I chose to fussy cut the “finials” and then use the fabric again in the border.  Part of the challenge for us was finding just the right portion of the paisley to use.  We auditioned various swooping components for the kites and realized that at least for us and this quilt it wouldn’t work.

So after much consideration we chose the finials for the center of the quilt.

The process for the design of the quilt ended up being a three way conversation between Anne, me & the quilt.  Each of us having a clear thoughts and opinions as to how this was all going to come together.  Anne wanted to leave room for me to quilt, I wanted the feathered star and the quilt wanted to remain simple and elegant.  As Anne & I talked we  would discuss adding various fabrics and the quilt would say no.

We chose to enter the Sulky portion of the challenge as well so thread choices were absolutely essential to the overall quilt.  We discussed blendables, rayons, polys and metallics and chose three solid colors and holoshimmer.

I used the holoshimmer in the “espresso” brown feathers and in the brown in the border.  It’s subtle but it’s present.

When I ordered thread I made a mistake and ordered a lighter lavender than I intended, however it ended up working well as I was able to use it in the cream kites.

here you can see the holoshimmer and the light lavender in the kites.  When I practiced with the holoshimmer it gave me a few fits, when I got to the quilt it went really smoothly.

The border on the quilt is quite fun.  Anne has a book with great borders and saw this one which we both liked and Eclipse seemed to agree with.  It’s quite intricate, but by keeping the fabric choices limited it is quite effective in adding the outward motion to the quilt that we were heading for.

For the binding we chose to use Jeri Riggs facing technique to bring so that there would be nothing limiting, framing the front of the quilt.  Jeri’s directions are simple and easy to follow and don’t create a whole lot of bulk at the corners of the quilt.  Anne  & I found the backing fabric at one of the quilt shops on our trip to the Quilters Heritage Celebration in April.  It’s part of the same fabric line as the green on the front and though quite dark does allow the quilting to show.

As I quilted with different colors on the top of the quilt I would change the bobbin color as well.  The center back shows the detail work quite clearly.  Inside the almond shapes are pebbles that scale from large to small from bottom to top.  None of the pebbles are big.

We spent the afternoon with Renee yesterday.  Even her shirt looks like quilt (yes, I do see quilting design in so many things!)

She has a great set up for quilting…and a new Bernina 830!  I got to take her for a test spin yesterday.  Thanks Renee!  My desire for this machine has only increased, though I think I’d actually go for the 820.  The 830 runs quite smoothly and has a nice hum to quilt with.

This dessert is made by Jeannie, another member of the Pelham Quilters.  Oh yummy.  Jeannie didn’t bring this dessert to our June meeting and we’ve all informed her and Lorraine that no matter what else is on the menu Jeannie MUST bring this fab dessert!  I’ll bring wine so that Jeannie can bring this.

We all smiled at this delightfully refreshing white Sangria.  Renee soaked the fruit in cointreau the night before…it’s made with both a still and sparkling Pinot Grigio…Yummy.  I liked this pic as it looks like the Sangria is smiling!  I’m going to have to have this again.