Weather Warning finished

There has been a crisis or two at home in the previous month and I haven’t had much time to update.  At last I have a bit of a breather and can show some images of my finished quilts.

Weather Warning was completed with a bit of difficulty.  When sewing the tulle over the torn strips of fabric, I didn’t anticipate that the tulle would ‘creep’ as I sewed.  Consequently, the tulle was too short to cover all the way to the bottom of the quilt.  Making a virtue out of necessity, I tucked the tulle in behind the brown sand dune strips, and then quilted grass fronds over the top.  I was pleased with the overall effect of making the dunes appear closer and more vivid than the rain-swept ocean.

Dune detail, quilting grasses without tulle.

Instead of binding, I used the facing method with Vliesofix.  To be honest, this part was a bit ugly;  a sewn facing would have been better.  The corners were particularly difficult to finish nicely.  Vliesofix requires strength and determination to hand-sew, and I really didn’t have it in me one week before the deadline.

Finally, on the front, I machine sewed (through all layers) some rain detail where the layers of contrasting silk had not created the desired effect.

Black silk thread machine sewn in double rows created the edge of the rain.

Nevertheless, it was finished.  The additional embellishment I had planned was omitted as I realised if I made the scene too realistic, it would have to be entered into Pictorial instead of Abstract at the state guild exhibition QuiltWest.

Totally unexpected, and all the more thrilling, was a First Place ribbon at the awards presentation.  Equally rewarding were the many positive comments from friends and colleagues at the exhibition.