Project Quilting: Bright and Early

When I wrote about my idea for the Project Quilting "The Brighter the Better" theme yesterday, it seemed impossible that I would be nearing a finish one day later. And yet, here I am to tell you about it. Recall that I've adapted the template for the quilt pictured on the cover of this book:

Julie Hirota's technique for doing stained glass quilts is different from the way I'm accustomed to doing it, and so I needed the template enlarged. From there, began the tedious job of creating the "leading" for the stained glass. First, I needed to trace the template onto a sheet of Heat 'n Bond Lite. After that, the entire sheet of fusible was pressed down to a large piece of solid black fabric.

It took nearly two hours, but I proceeded to cut out the entire piece yesterday afternoon.

From there, fusing in the flowers, grass, and sky went surprisingly quickly. You can read about how this is accomplished right here. For this quilt, I was able to apply the colors in layers, which made it a lot easier than stained glass quilts I've done in the past.

From here, I was a little lost about how to finish it off. I had in mind a bright floral border from my fabric stash. First, however, came the question of whether to add a flange as I've always done before. In the end, I decided to add a hot pink. I could always remove it if I didn't like it.

And I loved how it brightened up the whole piece. Then I went in search of the bright floral in Ye Olde Fabric Stash Shoppe. I couldn't find the floral, but I ran across this fabric that was an even better choice. This is one of my oldest fabrics. I purchased it as a part of a kit for making a bag long before I ever started quilting. It's been in my "stash" for over ten years! I had forgotten all about it, but look how perfect it is for this quilt. No wonder I never got around to making that bag.

The theme "The Brighter the Better" has been very liberating. At each turn, I simply asked myself if the questioned fabric would make my quilt brighter. If it did, I forged ahead. And now it's sandwiched and ready for quilting and binding. 

I have in mind a bright yellow binding, but first comes the quilting. Here's another time when it's good to feel liberated. When I've done these quilts in the past, I've always used a black thread to top-stitch over each edge of the "leading". It makes for a pretty back. Here's an example from a stained glass daffodil I made a while back.

For this quilt, I'm still focused on making it as bright as possible, and so I have in mind to use this bright multi-colored variegated thread I used when I made the Happy Village.

It could be kind of fun! I'll stitch around the outside of the quilt first and see how I like it. If I do, then I'll get going on the rest of the flower petals. It's a tedious job, but not as bad as all the cutting I did at the beginning. Once it's all stitched up, I'll be ready to bind it and this week's challenge will be complete.

The only other thing I did yesterday was to get the tomato seeds started. Yes...they are in red solo cups. Tomatoes like a good party. For now, they're sitting in the laundry room window. They won't move out to the greenhouse until April.

Nothing growing yet. For now, I'll keep them covered with plastic wrap to hold in the moisture. Once they germinate, I'll uncover them and let them grow tall.

So it's an all-sewing day today. I want to finish up the Bright and Early quilt, and then I'll get back to the truck camper wall hanging.