2020 Mandala
Quilt Summary:
This stunning wholecloth quilt was created using a number of techniques, from fabric painting to hand turned appliqué.
- Applique
- - Hand Applique
- - Turned Edge Applique
- Embellishments
- - Crystals
- - Silk
- - Free Motion Quilting
- - Longarm
- - Matchstick
- - Outline/Echo Quilting
- - Quilting Ruler Work
- - Painting
- - Pencils
Description:
2020 was my guild’s 20th Anniversary, and the Challenge Committee chose “Twenty-Something” as the theme. At the time, I had been following the work of Bethanne Nemesh with quilted mandalas on ice-dyed fabric, and wanted to try something similar. I was able to fit the challenge theme very nicely with that idea, by dividing the space into twenty sections. Next, what colors to choose? All of them! I used a beautiful silk charmeuse because I love the luster of silk. I also opted to use fabric paint (Pebeo Setasilk and Maribu silk) instead of dye because I had better control, and because that is what I had on hand. I drew out the entire design on vellum, incorporating my favorite design motifs- plumeria, pineapples, palm trees, and sea turtles, then “tie painted” the fabric so the color changes matched the rings in the design. Next was quilting the design on my wonderful Innova longarm. Since I wanted the quilting to be well defined, I chose to double the batting, using Soft&Bright layered over Warm&Natural. The turtles and their silhouettes are hand turn appliqué. To finish I used Inktense pencils, PearlEx powdered pigments, Jacquard colorless extender, and metallic gel pens to emphasize the motifs, and added about 800 Swarovski crystals for some sparkle.
This quilt has been juried into quilt competitions at IQF Houston 2021, Road to California 202s, and AQS Branson, MO 2022. Most recently it won three ribbons, to include Grand Champion, at the Washington State Fair.