Saturday, April 25, 2015

My Quip – A New Quilt on the Way – Moon Over Bayshore

Good Day,

About four months ago Andy and I were asked if we would consider creating a queen-size quilt. This new quilt would be a construction inspired by our own work, Cosmo’s Moon.


Why not? We’re always open to a challenge. The new work would not be a duplicate but a new and different original.

After listening to our client, I drafted a quick digital painting.


Yes that is it. This would be the beginning of the new quilt, Moon Over Bayshore.

The next step was to pick the fabric to be used. The moon will be the central theme of the piece and the sky will hopefully portray that time between the end of the evening, maybe the start of a new day… It will be that period of time when there is a magic in the beginning of a new day. All fabric was chosen from SewBatik.

Our technique is to create a muslin canvas of approximately 38 strips sewn together. It is roughly the size of the queen-size spread including a 10-inch overhand for the sides and the bottom of the quilt.


The canvas created the medium to allow the drawing of the draft of the scene: the moon, the buildings; the girders, et al.  With a completed draft, we then decided which of the graduated fabrics are to go where...sort of like working a jig-saw puzzle.  Or for that matter a "paint-by-number" scene.




Andy then pieces the fabric to match my draft and design. All-things-being-equal it will take a couple or four weeks to sew all the strips.



At this point in time 9 of 38 strips have been pieced.


Once the strips are all completed they are sewn back together again.  This time, and we cross our fingers, Moon Over Bayshore - the top, will be completed.  The approximate dimensions of the top are 90" (230 cms) long and 80" (200 cms) wide.

Next step is the creation of the the quilt-wich. In this case 4-layers - The muslin strips, the attached top pieces, the batting, and the backing.

Then comes the next phase. The quilting design - the Moon; the reflection of the corona; the sky; the buildings and their shadows; the standing girders. Andy will be using two types of sewing to quilt - continuous and start-and-stop.

Next the binding and then the label.

Then the delivery.

If you have any questions, comments, thoughts, ideas...or just want to drop us an email feel free at Quilts SB.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

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