What? Why? Where?
28th November
Well, it’s been over three months since I brought the quilt home and I’ve lost count of the number of hours I’ve been spending working on it each week. It’s a labour of love for sure - very satisfying to do, but I need to allow myself to relax, take my time, and enjoy the process.
It’s important to me to do justice to all the love and care that everyone has put into their pieces - I need to make sure that each and every piece is perfectly placed and carefully secured, and that the whole thing comes together beautifully. I’ve also started to think about recording the names of all the contributors (over 100 of them!).
Now that the pieces have all been placed, and everything is secure, I’m focusing on filling any remaining gaps with small scraps, weaving, and embellishments. I’m also working on the joins between pieces, adding embroidery stitches or couched ribbons and fibres.
One of the difficulties is finding a way to hold the quilt while I work on it, especially for areas further from the edges. I’ve rigged up a frame in my sitting-room, where I can spread out all the filler pieces, threads, ribbons and doodads, and that’s working pretty well - luckily John doesn’t mind me taking over the sitting room for a while!
In the video linked below, I’ve included some footage I took on my phone, showing the set-up. I also showed some of the work I’ve been doing, and made a start embroidering the makers’ names on a scroll, which will go with the quilt when it goes to its new home.
Check out the video to see my workstation and working process -