Marking and quilting update

This past few weeks I have been madly quilting on my Henna Tattoo quilt  (now called “All Tatted Up”), trying to get it finished in time to put into the upcoming guild show.   I have TWO weeks left to go and am hopeful that I will get it finished. this is where I am at the moment….

Many of you remember that I had some issues with marking this quilt and struggled to figure out the best way to get a good crisp line.  I discussed my dilemma in this post.

One of the things that I talked about was trying Crayola Washable Markers, and I started a test to see how they would work.  I began the test by using every one of the markers on a piece of fabric.   I ironed that fabric and then hung it up in my studio…..

Almost 3 months later, I took it down, washed it out and……

….everything appears to have washed out perfectly!!   I can definitely say that I will use these markers in the future!!

Now, onto what I did use!!   I decided to try these markers…..Leonis Water Erasable Marking pens.

They worked well.  The lines were crisp and easy to see. …BUT, in the 2 months between marking and actually starting to quilt, the lines have faded a lot, making it harder to see.    So, I have had to redraw many of the designs before I could go to the machine.  you can really see the difference between what I have re-done and the original.

Unfortunately this has slowed down my process quite a bit!!!   But, I have simplified a few of the designs as I have redrawn them and that has made the quilting more fun.

I had a hard time deciding what to use as a fill pattern and, thanks to our  Guild’s January speaker, Sylvia Schaefer (be sure to check out her new book!!),  finally thought of the idea of matchstick quilting.   It has taken some time to do, but it is actually fairly calming to do the quilting…..

I started out using my ruler foot but found that the short lines of quilting were easier to do free hand rather than having to manipulate the ruler.  I decided to draw in the 1/4 inch lines and just eyeball the 1/8 inch inserts.

The final decision to make is what to do as a fill in the peacock corners…..

I am first going to quilt the peacock and then play with a few designs but I am leaning toward continuing the wavy lines under the peacock.   I know that I can easily do 1/4 inches lines and may even throw in some 1/8 inch lines.

So, it is back to the studio for me……