Really Big Quilts

Really big quilts with really big empty spaces need really big motifs! The funky feathers in the corners of this quilt (I borrowed this design from Karen Marchetti – it's only stealing if you don't give credit!) are 18 inches tall! I think they look like rooster tails, so that's what I'm going to call them. Quilted in three different colors, this design gives the massive black space some much needed character.

The black thread background quilting is what Karen McTavish calls clam shelling, a form of her McTavishing filler that she's not really fond of. She thinks it looks too congested. But, when it is done large, it is much better than meandering! And, the wool batting gives this clam shelling more dimension than you would get with a simpler meander and a flatter batting.

For the rooster tail feathers that go on top of the paper-pieced diamonds of each cube, I chose a gold Glide thread called Cleopatra. I have found the best thread color for multiple fabric colors is a gold. It's not really metallic, but the Glide thread has a nice sheen to it so it looks almost metallic. And, the gold color does not clash with any of the rainbow array of fabric colors.

My customer hand-dyed just about every piece of fabric for this quilt. Careful placement of colors gives the cubes the 3-D effect they need. I'm very impressed, aren't you?!

Sorry I didn't get a picture of the full piece. It's too large to get up on my design wall!

Pattern is Peacock Window by Liz Schwartz and Stephen Seifert.

If you only do one thing today,

make sure it is that you believe in yourself.