1,000 Stitches

I thought it would be hard to make, but I’d settled on the idea and there was no turning back. As it turns out the small quilt I made for my Halloween swap was a very fun and rewarding project for me. I told my swap partner it felt almost like painting with fabric and thread. A bit hard to let go of, but I can make more.

This was almost my first experiment with applique. I’ve been reading up on technique. Seems like it worked. Sometimes the way I learn things is not by doing. I read up about something, I think about a lot, work it out in my mind, mull over the angles for weeks. Then I’m ready, and my fingers do what my brain spent all those hours thinking about.

My trademark swirls are in there, but I think they make sense, since they represent the sky. Each different element has different colors and patterns of stitchery down to different stitch lengths, to try to make each element represent the actual thing it’s depicting in more than one way.  It worked pretty well, and in fact I ended up enjoying the back almost as much as the front, so I left it uncovered.

The most interesting part of this for me, once it was done, was not the way it looks, though I tried to create an agreeable selection of fabrics and patterns. It was the way it feels. It has a lot of texture. Maybe it was just me doing all the sewing, arguing with and smoothing the fabric.  The leaves and pumpkin are lined with felt before appliqueing them on for added depth, and the stitching just adds to it. It was a dense, compact work, with silvery bits of thread running everywhere.

I chose this motif for a Halloween swap because Halloween is a harvest festival to me, in fact a major one. It’s not all ghosts and goblins at its root. And harvest reminds me of Iowa where my family is from, and the fields and cool air of this season. Did I mention next week’s vacation is to Iowa?

I do believe I’m going to make another one of these. Maybe November will be good inspiration?

The (ir)relevant details of the project:  linen, cotton quilting fabric, felt, silk and cotton embroidery thread, cotton quilting thread, fleece, cotton bias tape.  Machine applique, hand-quilting/embroidery.  Freehand drawing/piecing of my own design.