Yesterday was the deadline
for competition entries
into the
Houston International Quilt Competition.
This is the largest quilt show in the world.
This is where the best of the best compete.
And for some reason I thought I might have a chance
in the big leagues.
I am happy to report that I actually got my quilt submitted last Friday.
And I know
FOR SURE
that it got there on time
because I got a call from someone from the show
saying that my credit card number was declined
when they tried to charge the entrance fee.
HAHAHAHAHA.
I had just fat-fingered one of the numbers.
Whew!
So, now that the quilt is completely finished
I thought I would make a photo album
for you all to see.
I would love any
and all
feedback.
And here are the stats:
Time spent on this quilt: approx 85 hours
Hot-fix Crystal count: 1,130
Bead count: 1,380
Stitch count: 535,908
Anger level from 0 to Chris Brown: 3
(The techniques on this quilt were actually pretty smooth sailing,
but there are a few things I would change as far as the design aspect.)
Procrastination level: Do I really need to answer this?
Here we go.
So, it started with a piece of fabric that I had the tiger design printed on.
This time, I just used one layer of 80/20 batting
although I wish I had used 2 layers.
Live and learn.
Then I outlined every single black stroke with silver metallic thread.
And I used white thread in the bobbin.
Here is the back of the quilt halfway through that process.
And here is the back after I was done doing all the outlines.
Pretty friggin’ sweet lookin’ eh?
And of course my
Bodacious Gangster
was with me every step of the way.
Put that tongue away Bode!
Then there was a crap-ton
of micro-quilting.
Penny for your thoughts?
…and for scale.
Some bobbin work…
…more micro-quilting…
Filling in all the white gaps of the face with silver thread…
After all the quilting was done
I added some bobbin work around the edges of the tiger’s face
as well as his teeth.
…added some binding.
Mitered corners were a little tricky at first,
but I just looooove the way they look!
And then added all the beads and crystals.
Each hot-fit crystal took about 10 seconds to apply
and each hanging bead section took about 2 minutes.
And finally,
the quilt was finished!
Be great to each other.
-Karlee
12 thoughts on “Deadline Beat.”
Beautiful. Not that I expected anything but beautiful. The fact that you used metallic thread makes it more wondrous. I have three top of the line single needle sewing/embroidery machines and I cannot get any of them to play nice with metallic thread! The crystals and beads add more glitz. I wish you good luck in Houston and wherever the quilt may travel.
Beautiful and thanks so much sharing with such great detail
Great work! Congratulations. Hope it gets in and does well!
absolutely stunning….I don’t think i’d have the patience to do this..plus no idea how..great job…
Truly awesome. Congrats
It’s really gourgeous Karlee!
love your quilt can’t wait to see it in person I have been goingto the show for about 30 year and love seeing all the quilts but you really have to go more than one day to see everything Hope to see you there Lee Sweeney
WOWZAS! You, my friend, are amazing! If you don’t win, these people are ridiculous! 🙂 Way cool!
Beautiful!
Oh my gosh Karlee – your quilt is absolutely stunning! You did a fabulous job – you should be very proud of your creation 🙂 You are an inspiration!
Do we get to see any pics of the whole quilt? Or just the close-ups? (Which are awesome)
Oh, there it is now! Beautiful work!