Down the Rabbit Hole Quilt

Do you remember this quilt? 

It has indeed been a while and I have neglected to show its final state. It has embroidery, applique and machine quilting. I really had no plan to begin with other than the inspiration given by this Gee's Bend quilt for the quilty front:

and it just went from there. I chose to do embroidery because I had 2 camping trips planned, and now that I don't have little ones to chase, I quite wanted something quilty to busy myself with, so I ironed on the applique details before our trip commenced, and embroidered away.

At home again, I returned to my mighty Janome 1600 dp for an adventure in whimsical free-motion quilting. (I say 'mighty' Janome, cuz it sewed through my finger not too long ago earning my respect!) It's really a rather simple sewing machine. It only sews forwards and backwards - with power. No zig-zag or fancy stitches. It is what is called a long arm, giving just a little more room to squish a huge quilt into during the sewing process. This machine is really a bare bones model. I even have to remove the feed dogs with a screw driver when doing free motion quilting, which makes it helpful to have a second machine for regular sewing.

Free-motion has become something I really enjoy. I feel like I finally have a non-messy paint brush I can deal with. And you should see me with a paint brush. Not a pretty picture, for sure. Paint everywhere but where it should be. Quilting by swirling and whirling in and around, little abstract, a little orderly, a lot of improv design, seems to flow for me.

For those of you unfamiliar with free motion quilting, here is a video showing the process.

It works well with being a home school mom, too. I'm always one that likes bringing beauty into the home as much as I can. Working at the kitchen table, in the middle of all the home school hustle and bustle and questions and answer also keeps me connected to the kiddos and where they are at in their studies, which is important to me. I can stop and start anytime to help them, walk to the beach, or create dinnertime eats. It takes just minutes to set up or put away. Or I just leave the school & quilt stuff untouched, and we eat around the coffee table.

I used the thicker pearl cotton instead of the traditional dmc floss for the embroidery work.

The larger spiraling circles throughout the quilt complement the 3 round flower appliques.

 

Now, where to put it. Presently, it is hanging over an old door I have leaned up against the corner of my living room. I can't decide which side I prefer, so it changes from time to time. Or it gets yanked down to cover up snuggly snugglers.