 Parasol 35 x 36 One more finish for 2017! This quilt had no purpose other than to get me to quilt one of my own hand dyed mandala fabrics. Like a lot of people, I avoid using "special" fabrics and once I do I want the resulting project to be perfect. I knew that I needed to get over all of that so I picked a pink mandala because that's my least favorite color. That helped me not worry about perfection but wasn't much for motivation! I was an admirable procrastinator with this quilt.  But from a purely education point of view this was a really valuable quilt. I learned some things about design and committing myself to task. Even the thread was a lesson. The only pink threads I had were some acrylic embroidery threads that I bought from Lunn Fabrics when they closed their hand dyed shop. They are beautiful threads but didn't run well on my APQS. I'm happy to discover that they run just fine on my Innova.  I started with the 4 center sections that are cross hatched and regretted it immediately. I knew that I had to repeat the crosshatching somewhere else. I eventually settled on the corners. For the rest of it I built the "frames" for each section and figured out what to do as I went along. I really was a good exercise and now I'm looking forward to doing another. But the next time I will do better planning.  I even took the bold step to use white for the back, which I love. I also love the blue binding.
This quilt isn't perfect and I don't have any immediate use for it but I'm glad I did it. It has issues and it really needs to be blocked again but it's done and it met my one goal: to get over my fear of quilting the mandala fabrics.
Patty
12/29/2017 01:16:07 pm
It came out just beautiful Vicki!!
Mary Anne
12/29/2017 02:13:01 pm
May I say that I love this one - a lot!! And I'm not a fan of pink. Your quilting is absolutely stunning and sets off the mandala fabric so well. I'm glad you got over your fear of using it so now I'm expecting to see more!!
Becky in VA
12/29/2017 03:40:43 pm
Wow - this turned out really GREAT!!! Can't wait to see your next one!
Karen Brennan
12/29/2017 05:24:26 pm
Like you, I am not a "pink" fan. I don't think I have ever been. This is beautiful.
Lynne in Hawaii
12/29/2017 08:16:32 pm
The mandala was beautiful to begin with, but the quilting is amazing! You put everything into learning and improving and it shows.
LINDA
12/29/2017 11:35:19 pm
This beautiful quilting really shifts the focus from the pink. 12/30/2017 08:37:06 am
I think you did a great job on it. I can only imagine the hours of work that you put into this.
shirley swift-bruner
12/30/2017 08:38:10 am
you might not like pink but it sure looks gorgeous. you did just the right thing in every area. i love the back. it is all perfect as far as i'm concerned. 12/30/2017 08:39:02 am
I think it is just stunning, from where I sit it is perfect;) I'll bet it is even prettier in person. The back is really awesome too!
Jo Vdmey
12/30/2017 08:42:47 am
You may not think it is perfect but I think it is beautiful. As a beginner longarmer quilter I would be happy, ecstatic to create this. We are often our own worst critic.
Andrea
12/30/2017 11:47:01 am
Beautifully done, and the name is so appropriate. Your quilting gives it such dimension that it really does seem like you're looking at the top of a parasol.
Cynthia Marrs
12/30/2017 12:06:17 pm
For all the negatives you were thinking, the final quilt is lovely. I may have to "borrow" some of your ideas.
Laceflower
12/30/2017 12:38:39 pm
I think I'd better step in here to defend pink, lol! These mandalas are such a challenge to quilt but the results are spectacular. When I did my first one, I too designed as I went, I think because I would probably still be designing and never get the needle in the cloth. I have a couple more from a recent snow dye but am being pulled in other directions, or maybe I'm just procrastinating. Great job Vicki, we all love it and you learned stuff, win/win. 12/30/2017 02:19:30 pm
YOU had a lot of FUN here Vicki! The quilting enhances the hand dyed piece beautifully. Yes, do another one.
LynneP
1/2/2018 07:43:42 am
I understand you are not happy with some areas of your quilting; however, if you had not mentioned your dislike of the crosshatching, I would not have known it. I think the crosshatching looks wonderful. When we point out "flaws" to others, I think it diminishes our work. We are often our own worst critics. This mandala piece is FABULOUS, imho. All the better since it was a learning piece. Hooray for you jumping out of your comfort zone! Comments are closed.
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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