Friday, December 9, 2011

Friday Finishes - Binding Fabric Choices. . .

Beginning today, every Friday I will write "Friday Finishes."  This weekly blog will highlight finishes for various quilt techniques, an end-of-the-week thought, or any other item that may fit into a Friday finish.  This week's finish will be my Shapes I quilt.
 As I looked at my quilt with the quilting complete, I decided to play with a little embellishment by adding chenille yarn around the outer border using bobbin work.
 The yarn was hand-wound onto the bobbin.  Following the SID stitching previously done, I sewed a small zig-zag stitch from the quilt's backside.  I love the results but be prepared; I had to hand-wind the bobbin 7 times to outline this very small quilt. 

When assembling a quilt, I consider each step along the way a possible design element.  I relish making these decisions as I progress rather than going by a plan.  I see the binding as a design element and, as such, one that needs to be thought about and analyzed.  I often audition many fabrics before my decision is made.
I began my possible binding choices by auditioning this red/orange fabric.  It helped to pull the orange applique elements out of the quilt.  I recommend you completely surround the quilt with the auditioning fabric to view its full effect if possible.
If surrounding the full quilt is not possible because of its size or due to lack of fabric, surround at least both sides of one corner as I've done here.  This is a purple/blue fabric that brings the light blue background into focus.
Here the black pulls the black in the shapes forward and encloses the quilt top colors.  Always keep in mind that there is no right or wrong decision.  There is only your perception as the artist and what you are hoping to impart to the viewer.
In my case, I chose the blacking .  This keeps the eye to the inside of the quilt, looking at the shapes.  After viewing all of the choices, I decided I wanted to keep the other colors contained.


 Until next time,

No comments: