How does changing the fabric alter the overall aesthetic of a quilt?
When I was asked to participate in the blog hop for a new fabric line, Summer Twilight, designed by Tammy Silvers for Island Batik, I thought this would be a fabulous opportunity to see how batiks would work with a motif I used in a recent project.
In the first 100 days of 2023 I created this needle turn appliqué quilt top using mostly solids with some tonal prints. This created an almost stained glass effect with each section having a distinct break between each segment of the design.
When presented with these lovely batik fabrics, I knew they would give a very different aesthetic to the design. The lovely mottled effect of the fabric lends itself to create visual melding with the background rather than a break between components. The motif in the upper right corner of the original quilt seemed like a good area to experiment with, so I printed some templates and went to work.
This partial remake of the original design also gave me an opportunity to experiment with a different type of appliqué. I’m usually a hand-appliqué-all-the-way kind of quilter, but this time I thought I would try out one of those nifty blanket stitch style appliqué stitches on my new BERNINA 770QE PLUS.
I wanted to provide just a bit of distinction between the botanical motif and the background, so I went with a slightly lighter green thread in a 50-weight. This is Aurifil color 1147.
I used Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite to position the appliqué. It worked well because it sticks to the background, but it is easily reposition-able until it is set with steam iron. In the image below, you can see the positioned pieces without the appliqué stitches on the left, and with them on the right. I like the slight distinction the stitching provides. Do you?
The machine comes set up with an entire stitch library section dedicated to common quilting stitches. I decided to start with stitch 1309 and use foot 10D, the Edge Stitching Foot. For the center guide of the foot to align with the edge of appliqué I needed to adjust the needle position to the left, and I made the stitch just a bit wider too.
In this video, you can see the very fast version of stitching around a leaf. Once the set up was done, the stitching was a breeze.
I used light aqua Aurifil I the bobbin to blend with the background batik that is also part of the Summer Twilight fabric line.The stitches balanced beautifully with neither the top or bobbin thread peeking through where it should show.
Here is a detail of the final project:
What do you think? Is the effect different when using batiks? I knew the fabrics would blend and interact with each other more in a batik format, but what surprised me is how aquatic the overall effect is. Who knew a design inspired by a land based plant could look like it’s made for the water?
What are you inspired to make with this fun new fabric line? There is plenty of inspiration going on this week. Make sure to visit all of these inspiring blogs:
| Tammy Silvers | May 8 | https://tamarinis.typepad.com/tamarinis/2023/05/introducing-my-new-fabric-line-summer-twilight.html |
| Sherry Shish | May 9 | https://poweredbyquilting.com/2023/05/09/summer-twilight-blog-hop/ |
| Lisa Ruble | May 9 | https://www.quiltyzest.com/2023/05/summer-twilight-quilt-gallery.html |
| Kate Colleran | May 10 | https://katecollerandesigns.com/summer-twilight-blog-hop/ |
| Cassandra Beaver | May 10 | http://thenotsodramaticlife.com/dont-miss-this-new-fabric-line-see-my-hand–machine-applique-remix/ |
| Laura Piland | May 11 | https://www.sliceofpiquilts.com/2023/05/summer-twilight-hydra-pillow.html |
| Heidi Pridemore | May 11 | https://heidipridemore.blogspot.com/2023/05/summer-twilight-blog-hop.html |
| Kate Starcher | May 12 | katiemaequilts.com/blog/summer-twilight-a-double-pattern-release |
| Swan Sheridan | May 12 | https://www.swanamity.com/si |
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