Well, January 2018 was interesting. I'm kind of glad to see parts of it in the rearview mirror. It is time for me to get back in the Studio and get busy!
Of course, the Studio was in state of disarray, much to my dismay. I haven't been at my most tidiest lately - more of a drop and run, dashing around trying to avoid winter kind a girl. The long, cold winter evenings have been begging for something more productive than scrolling through Facebook.
I recently found this Northcott Water Garden Heron panel and decided it would make a great hand quilting project. Love the colors! All of them!
I hung it up in the studio where I've been walking past it several times a day. At some point it occurred to me that it would benefit from some extra batting (trapunto style) in the heron to make it more 3D. Yesterday, I finally got to work on it. I basted close to the edge of the heron's outline.
It was a little nerve wracking cutting away the excess batting, for fear of slipping with the scissors and cutting through the panel itself. I originally left the breast feathers all padded.
Then decided to remove that area, following the curve of the body instead.
But as usual, I can never stop with my first idea. The water lilies in the foreground needed some enhancement too.
And I thought cutting away the excess around the heron was stressful!
I popped open an adult beverage, put on another episode of Downton Abbey and soldiered on.
A short time later, I was able to get the whole pieced layered, pinned and ready to stitch. I may or may not add borders to this or maybe only a narrow black binding. Either way, now on those nights when it's too cold to be in the Studio, I have no excuse to not be stitching.
Cutting away the excess does sound nerve-wracking! But this looks like a cool project. I love the panel, and it will be beautiful hand-quilted.
ReplyDelete