Amy Ellis' "Shifting Sands" Pattern reinterpreted

[Renata L.]

I'm finally getting back to some modest efforts at quilting after a long hiatus... I took Amy Ellis' quilt "Shifting Sands" from her book "Modern Neutrals" and changed the palette significantly in order to use up the Hoffman Challenge fabric I had from a few years ago. I really struggled to find a way to use this particular fabric but am happy with how the quilt turned out. Luckily, every piece of fabric came from my stash, including the backing (which is the solid orange and gold you see on the front).

It's the second quilt I quilted myself (so don't look too closely... :blink: ). I wanted an edge-to-edge design but was going to quilt it on my Bernina 830. So I took a stencil called "Buttered Popcorn" by FullLineStencil Company (Hancy), and used Pounce to mark the quilt, followed by a light spray of cheap hairspray to keep the chalk from rubbing off while quilting. I was only able to mark half a row at a time (a good length of 30 inches) before the marks became too difficult to see. I got through it pretty quickly and was happy with the results. This quilt is now in the appreciative hands of a neighbor for whom I made it as a "thank you."

[Renata L.]

Great looking quilt, Renata.

Interested to hear about using hairspray to fix chalk powder, whilst quilting, never heard of that one before!

[Renata L.]

Great looking quilt, Renata.

Interested to hear about using hairspray to fix chalk powder, whilst quilting, never heard of that one before!

Thanks, Rosemary! The use of hairspray to temporarily fix the chalk powder was recommended by the makers of the Pounce Pad, which contains powdered chalk, sometimes with a bit of color added when plain white won't show on the fabric. It made sense to me because I've known artists to do the same to fix charcoal to keep it from smudging on artwork. I marked the portion of the quilt I was going to sew next, then lightly sprayed it with the hairspray in the same manner I would apply a light starching to a fabric. Then I let it dry well, often for 15 minutes, sometimes 30, before taking it to the machine to sew. It did require washing the quilt to remove the marks and the hairspray that had stiffened the fabric. I had a little residue under the feed dogs of my sewing machine but not much and I got all that out from the bobbin area with my usual cleaning routine. Hope this helps.

[wendy w.]

Renata smashing gift. Love the Japanese fabrics and your quilting is lovely!!! I looked very close :lol:

[Nancy R.]

Love it, Renata! I recognized the Hoffman Challenge fabric immediately. Your neighbor is very lucky! Your quilting lines look perfect to me.

[Lorna B.]

Very nice. The colors are fun. Thanks for the hairspray tip.

[Lorna B.]

Renata,

Love the colors and the quilting. Nice job.
Judy

[brigitte.wieser]

Dear Renata,
I must confess that I had a close look to your quilting immediately, when I read your text.
And the quilting is beautiful !!! I like the whole quilt !
So keep on quilting ! :cheer:

Servus aus Wien, Brigitte

[ANNE E.]

Renata, your quilt and the quilting are lovely.....you should see my FMQ quilting it's rubbish but I can only keep on practising in the hope that it gets better.
Hope all the TQS family have a lovely weekend ....blue skies and sunshine here in the UK hope it lasts.
Anne

[Geneva C.]

Renata, glad you are back in the swing of things with quilting. Your quilt turned out very nice and I like your quilting!

Take care,
geneva

[Rita C.]

It's a lovely quilt Renata. The colours compliment each other so well and the quilting looks flawless. I really like the design you chose - both quilt pattern and quilting. I also really like the alternating white and turquoise squares in the centre of each block. What a lovely gift for your neighbours. :cheer:

[Betty J.]

I'm glad you are getting back to quilting. It's a lovely quilt. I have also had a difficulty finding a marker for darker fabrics that will last long enough. I couldn't use hairspray for a fixative because it was on silk. If you are washing it, I wonder if you have tried Crayola washable markers? They don't rub off, are never heat set even if you iron it, and wash out completely.

[Renata L.]

Thank you, BJ! About Crayola, I could not use it on this quilt because my stencil was a green FullLine Stencil by Hancy whose concept is not unlike what you do with silkscreen, so you cannot mark on the stencil, you can only rub across it with the chalk powder.

As for your silk, I was wondering if you've ever tried Saral wax-free transfer paper (the white one). You would have to trace your design onto tracing paper, pin it on the fabric and then carefully slip the Saral paper between the tracing paper and the silk, then trace the design onto the fabric with an awl or a ball point pen (perhaps one that has run out of ink :blink: ). I cannot tell you how well Saral comes off of silk for quilting and I certainly would test it out to see whether it would work. I've done it on silk for Chinese embroidery but I was never concerned about the marking coming off because it was being covered with silk thread.

If you decide to try Pounce through tracing paper that has the design sewn through without thread, you might consider going over the chalk mark with FullLine Stencil's "Ultimate Marking Pencil" so that the mark stays longer on your fabric. It comes off with an iron pressed over the fabric. Again, I know it works well on cotton, but it might be worth testing on silk. It is designed for free drawing, not for marking through a stencil of any sort (I tried it with a plastic stencil, it does not work well). That is why tracing over your Pounce chalk mark might be what you need to do. You can find these pencils at http://www.fulllinestencil.com/shop/product/ultimate-marking-pencil/ or next month at the Quilters Unlimited Quilt Show since I saw the vendor for it will be there.

Hope this helps a bit!

[Betty J.]

Thanks for the idea. I did buy and try the "Ultimate Marking Pencil", but it just was too hard to see on the black silk. As you saw, I did finish the quilts (Canterbury Silk and Canterbury Knight) by laying the paper design I had made beside the quilt and stitching the design free style...not ideal but perhaps the only way for that fabric.

[Norma H.]

Renata, your quilt is lovely and please don't make excuses for the quilting. If this is bad I will never show you mine :woohoo: :whistle: