Silk Road: Spotlight

As it turns out, the detour I took from the original plan for the silk quilt was the right path to take.  Yesterday was off to a good start with the machine quilting.

The colors are almost  true (but not quite) in this photo and you can't easily see the change in grain direction in every other square.

The progress was interrupted by the lack of the right color thread for the middle three silks. ACK!  Not wanting to just settle for what I had on hand as it was just 'okay', I ran out to the fabric store to find better matches and here they are on the back.

 The DH was content to have a late sandwich dinner so I could get all the quilting done and the front folded to the back as binding stitched down.  I was on a roll and wanted to get this finished - just needs a label today.

Presenting:  Silk Road: Spotlight

Dimensions: 30.25" x 30.25" Fabric: Silk dupioni in fuchsia, magenta (really radiant orchid), purple, sapphire, royal blue and black.  The back is Kaufman premium Jet Black Kona cotton.  

All 8 silk colors - the 3 teals will be making an appearance in a future quilt.

Batting: Quilters Dream Midnight Black
Quilting: Quilted on my Singer 6510 with various cotton threads.

This is my entry for the 2014 Pantone Color of the Year Challenge celebrating 'Radiant Orchid'.

Check out all the other entries  at The Windy Side blog.
There are three categories that will be judged with a 1st-3rd place, plus 3 random winners and a viewer's choice award.
Voting for viewer's choice starts on March 22nd.

What I learned about working with silk dupioni:
#1. Silk is alive! It moves, shimmies,slides and threads, sometimes all at once and usually not when you want it to.
#2. Pinking shears are your best friend. Keep them right next to your machine at all times.
#3.  Photographing silks is as 'interesting' as sewing with them.
#4. I will be making other quilts with silks, possible mixing silks and cotton together in the tops, becoming my Silk Road series. I have a few design ideas floating around to use in the future.
#5.  I may try using fusible interfacing next time to stabilize the silk.  I'll need one light enough to not gum up the needle as I machine quilt it and not add excessive stiffness.

I definitely think working with silks meets by word for 2014 - CHALLENGE - and I LOVED it!