In my last post, I shared the creation of my newest applique quilt – Alta Fenume. I also said that the actual quilting of this extra large dragon, would be covered in a separate post. Here it is.
Custom or E2E
This was one of those questions that was so easy to answer: Custom of course! The entire quilt easily showed me areas that were perfect for computerized and hand-guided custom work. I will break down how I approached this next.
Borders
Not all parts of this quilt were applique. The borders had personality of their own. This was one of the easiest parts, with all the structure of the floating squares and elegance of the cream sections, there were many directions to take. I decided to do hand-guided arches in the boxes and computerized flipped feathers in the single fabric borders.
I used Gold thread for the arches, and did not use a ruler for this, I wanted them to look like gold string dangling around the edges.
The feathers were done in a matching thread color. I really love how this added texture to the outside of the quilt.
The Dragon
The dragon itself was very fun to quilt, each section really did speak for itself.
The first section I tackled was the applique body. I really wanted scales to add texture to the entire body. Initially, I drew them out with chalk and then hand-quilted them with a matching green thread.
I was overjoyed with the result!
The smaller elements of the dragon were outlined, doodled, and/or accented in a way that allowed the sections to be properly nailed down and accented. Then came the wings.
I decided that the wings should have veins, and was happy I did. This allowed for texture just not too much. Notice the poofiness? I really liked that.
Lastly, and lastly because I was lamenting how to quilt it, came the background which the dragon flew in. I took the blue clouds and did a repeat. This was my least favorite part, but it works.
I was still having trouble figuring out how to quilt the skies when it dawned on me: What do you see in the sky? CLOUDS!
These big, fluffy clouds really did the job. Not too much quilting-just enough to add a textural element.
Overall, I love this quilt and had a great time showing it off during our guild’s Show and Tell. No, this wasn’t December – it was our Christmas In July event!
How do you quilt your applique quilts?
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