Wednesday 30 April 2014

The task begins

I can now share with you 'Part 1' of the quilt that I making for Thorngrove Manor. Thanks Nydia for allowing me to do this….all very exciting and I hope you the reader enjoy sharing this journey as well. It has taken a few weeks of just "thinking" about what I would do. I have been given free reign which is amazing, so with that my main theme was to make the quilt quite 'regal' as it is for the King's Room. At the same time I wanted to reflect some of the designs that are already in the suite, so here goes! I have spent a few late nights in the wee small hours doing the drawings……...

 and then it was time to select the fabrics. I have a very special stash at home of fabrics with gold so naturally these seem to be appropriate for a King's Room. The fabrics have obviously been waiting to be turned into something special and I am glad they will be put to good use……….
 The background is from Lakehouse fabrics - This design is "Antique Acanthus" in black (Thankyou Tim from Lloyd Curzon Textiles for providing me with this delicious print)…….
 And Tim for you…a week on and your beautiful flowers are still bringing pleasure. The other image is through our front door where you can see a new urn and I am pleased to say there are quite a few roses too! (more pics when they too are blooming)…..
 Sunday afternoon we went for the drive to Thorngrove to show Nydia and Kenneth my drawings and fabric selection……..


 And this is the beautiful bed that my quilt will adorn………...
 My drawings and plans and you can see some of the centre on the right…...
Then it was the task of all the tracing and ironing…..that took a couple of days and you can see in the image the "bridges" that I talk of in class. These are imaginary connections to assist with placement…..those bits on the bias can be a struggle but these really help to hold it all together……..
 This is the pencil I use for all my tracing….never have to sharpen it…...
 And now the long task of cutting out all those little bits!…...
 and my very favourite scissors - Fiskars Softgrip that have wide handles for comfort - and they are so very sharp too……..with a pen top for protection!….
Today I started the centre background placement of all the appliqué pieces and at the same time I caught up on two episodes of Silent Witness and two episodes of Inspector Frost! And then this afternoon while I was still working our new curtains were being hung. I didn't have enough William Morris fabric for full drapes so instead had padded pelmets and tiebacks made. I am so thrilled and to think that the fabric was a gift from a very special person…...



 Thankyou Michael and Linda for your hard work…..and to Kym…..we just love them and the 'silk dupioni look' curtains are divine! We've been told to let the drapes hang a few weeks before using the tie-backs so I will show them off again then!….
 Back to the work at hand……another view of those little bridges on my appliqué and then the trimming before you press……..
And Nydia and Kenneth..this is the first reveal of the centre minus a few little pieces. Now all the stitching begins!
Thanks for visiting the blog and I look forward to sharing more of this quilt in the future xx

17 comments:

  1. What a great post. I loved seeing your process and such a stunning design. Just perfect for that special room. Your draperies are lovely too!

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  2. that is going to be such a beautiful quilt. I love that center block that you show. so much stitching to do, you will be kept busy for ages. thanks for showing your process

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  3. Takes my breath away, it's so lovely. So interesting seeing what all goes into your designs. So much artistery. Thanks for showing us. Margaret in Texas

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  4. As always Michelle, such beautiful design, and immense generosity. Congratulations on the Rajah award. It's certainly very well deserved.
    Looking forward to catching up again sometime soon.
    Shaaryn (1 of the 4 Brisbane quilters who were in your Beating Around The Bush workshops a few years ago. Still one of my favourites ever)

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  5. What a great post. Fabrics for this special quilt are gorgeous. Do you do the stitching by hand or machine?. Love the padded pelmets and drapes. Happy stitching.

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  6. Thanks so much for sharing your progress Michele on what is yet again an amazing design. I am simply loving all the gold on the darker background and there is no better way to describe it other than 'regal'. I loved seeing the process of the design to tracing to fusing as with so many projects on the go and with so many quilters doing hand piecing it is always a bit of a tug of war which way to go. It reminds me of how fabulous your work is and to cut oneself some slack with doing everything by hand as it would take more than my lifetime so thanks to your post for helping me to be decisive. Rae.

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  7. Wow, what an honour for you and also huge congratulations on the Rajah award. So very well deserved! You must be immensely proud of yourself, take good care xx

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  8. It's going to be magnificent, I love it already.
    Linda

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  9. Michele this is so very beautiful. Its facinating to see your process, i am so pleased your clients agreed to letting you post the photos,

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  10. Thank you so much for sharing, so great to see the process and love the bridge idea. It is looking very regal and lovely. Chris

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  11. This is going to be a stunner. I'm glad you are able to share your process with us. This is the first time I've seen your blog. I got here from The Quilt Show.

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  12. Congratulations another wonderful design by a wonderful person

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  13. What a marvelous quilt you are making, Michele. It is definitely worthy of adorning that special bed. And thanks for the process!

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  14. The centre panel is going to be stunning!

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  15. Love your new quilt...stunning...!!! Will enjoy following your progress...hope all is well with you...love Di Hake...xxx

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  16. This is stunningly beautiful! Do you happen to have the pattern available for purchase?
    thedavisfolk@gmail.com

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  17. Nice idea for the curtains. But crazy excuse for not bringing a method for ironing out the drapes prior to hanging

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Thankyou for dropping by and sharing in my journey. And thanks especially for your lovely comments….I may not always respond (especially if there is no email address) but please know you are appreciated x