Quilting Through Gold

I managed to get the new quilt top pinned onto the longarm today and begin the quilting. The aim is to add text to the gold background area. There were words quilted in the just the same way on the original Don't Go quilt but the stitching was worked dark blue on dark blue and so the result was very subtle, the lettering only being apparent in good lighting, not something that can be counted on at the average quilt show. The quilted words on the new version will be much more apparent. I'm working with a dark red Maderia Aerofil thread and just a regular needle. I was prepared for the gold to shred the thread and for lots of breakages, but so far, not a single incident.

Obviously the needle leaves holes that won't close up, but I rather like this effect. It reminds me of the punching seen in the gold areas of icon paintings.

I love the gold with the flesh tones. Obviously with the needle making permanent holes there's no room for error as any unpicking would look horrendous! Have to say that while I like the quilting, I love the gilding before it's quilted too, at which point it looks really smooth and reflective. I have in mind a way to be able to achieve that - areas of dense quilting, with areas of none at all, but that'll be for another day's experiment.

Thanks for dropping by,

Laura

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