Wednesday 24 June 2015

Circle of geese - soon to be covered in sauce

It really will be covered in sauce soon, it's a trivet.  I've been working on this one for ages.  It all started with this circle of geese which I made sometime last year, before the non-making set in.  I think it's a pattern by Jeliquilts, but I've forgotten, if anyone knows I'll update this.



I attempted to do a rainbow and thought a patterned black fabric would set it off nicely.  Alas, I didn't have any patterned black fabric so a solid had to do.



Last month I added some 2" borders of yellow, orange and red.  The red is from Petit Ecole, I'm not sure what the other two fabrics are.  I sewed it right sides together with the backing and turned it through, leaving the Insulbrite on the inside this time!  Then I quilted.


I got a bit fancy with my FMQ this time.  I know it's a bit over the top for a trivet, but I wanted to practice and I might as well practice on a functional item as on a scrap sandwich.


All the quilting patterns I used are from Leah Day's book 365 Quilting Patterns, also available on her website.  The centre is Day 221 Maelstrom and I'm really chuffed with how it turned out.  It's black thread, Guttermanns if you're even slightly interested in the brand!



The black bits between the geese got an echo of the shape, I went all over the place with this one!  I didn't backtack over my stitches to start and end each thread, I sewed those babies in!  The yellow border is Day 9 Cursive Fs in yellow and I loved this pattern, I could do that on a whole quilt.  The orange border is Day 18 Spiral Chain and the red border is just matchstick quilting.  The most matchstick quilting I'll ever do!


Getting a motif in the corners was tricky!



Here it is from the back, it's easy enough to see the black quilting and even the orange and red, the yellow is lost though.

So what do you think?  Am I mad to custom quilt a trivet?




Linking up to the 2015 FAL Q2.  My original post is here.


2015 FAL at On the Windy Side

18 comments:

Christine B said...

Hello Wendy! Your trivet looks fabulous. The piecing is very clever and your quilting looks great! Hope you have fun using it! :) x

Pamela said...

This is great! The colors really pop out from the black.

Sandra :) said...

You did an amazing job on the quilting, Wendy - wow! I especially like the Maelstrom design in the center - it's very organic, but works out well to fill the area. I don't think it's over the top for a trivet - I think it looks great, you got in practice and you got to try some new designs - win/win/win :)

pennydog said...

Possibly a bit crazy yes but it's a good excuse to practise :) I can see the yellow, sometimes (I'd argue most of the time) you don't want to see the stitching, just the raised-ness if that makes sense.

Rachel said...

Are you mad? Not if you enjoyed doing it and like the result!

Sandra Walker said...

Mad? not at all! Passionate for practising FMQ, yes! And I LOVE Leah Day, have both her spiral bound books. She was the first one who "helped" me learn to FMQ on my longarm. :-) I LOVE this trivet, and yes, I am interested in the thread you used, as well as the designs, so thank you! It turned out awesome! Insulbrite on the inside, snort. You always make me laugh!

Jane said...

These are the perfect size for practicing on. It would make me smile every time I used it, it's lovely

margaret said...

what a great job you have done with this trivet, love the plain back rather than a patterned fabric and as I say the quilting is super, great way to practise rather than just using a sandwich of fabric, but you look pretty expert to me

Anonymous said...

Wow, wow, wow! Brilliant fmq Wendy, love all the designs you chose to do but especially like the maelstrom in the centre.

ukcitycrafter@live.co.uk

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

I take your point - may as well practise on something real rather than a scrap fabric sandwich. But all that work! And then to use it for hot dishes!!! Anyway, very well done, and may all your dishes be drip free!

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Looks like lots of fun, plus you have made something very useful while working on ideas and techniques for future projects.

Sarah in Stitches said...

It looks seriously awesome! Great job :D

Heide said...

This is so pretty, and soon to be covered in sauce, insert sad face. I am drawn to flying geese and have not tried them as of yet. Flying Geese is quickly moving to the top of my list of projects to do. Thanks for sharing your wonderful project and giving me inspiration. Stopping over from Sew Fresh Quilts.

Fiona said...

so effective with the black... no definitely not mad to quilt a trivet... I am the same... I don't like practicing on nothing and so make heaps of little things whilst practicing.... love how you did yours...
Hugz

Béa said...

Very beautiful work, congrats !

Jo Ferguson said...

You should be chuffed. The quilting is incredible. I think it's great that you took the opportunity to practice and it turned out so well.

Leanne said...

Trivets are perfect for fmq practice. One sees them often and can enjoy them, so they do deserve fuss too. Yours is lovely and I can say that the sauce always washes out of my trivets so hopefully yours will last for years to come too.
I'm visiting as member of the official 2015 Finish Along Cheerleading Squad.

Anita said...

what a beautiful piece! perfect color choice and fmq patterns.