We’ve so enjoyed following along with Wendy Sheppard‘s Thread Journey. It’s hard to believe the end is here! Ever since the beginning, back in June, we’ve anxiously awaited each post, anticipating the next round of instruction and grabbing sneak peeks at Wendy’s stunning quilting. Today, it’s all about the big reveal! This post is full of so much quilty goodness, we’re simply brimming with excitement. Also, we’re pretty sure that Wendy has some quilty super powers. We’d like to thank Wendy for her kind collaboration, for sharing her expertise with us, and for helping us to push the boundaries of our own quilting practices.
We’re so excited to see your finished quilts, so don’t forget to tag us when you share your photos — Wendy (@ivory_spring), Aurifil (@aurifilthread)and #threadjourneyquiltalong.
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Hello Quilting Friends, I hope you have been well. Today’s post is my last post on our Thread Journey Quilt-Along. All in all, I put in about 52 hours on just the quilting portion of the quilt. It’s been fun and therapeutic for me to work on this quilt. I personally like the step of quilting the best in the entire process of making a quilt – because I like how quilting adds personality to a quilt.
I used the different colors from my Subtle Strings thread collection for constructing, quilting and finishing the quilt. Hopefully you will be able to see the additional subtle coloring on the quilt from using a variety of thread colors to quilt the quilt.
These pictures were taken after I completed the quilting, but not binding. But the time of day was right for me to take some outdoor pictures to highlight the quilting.
All the quilting you see is free-hand and free-motion quilted on my Bernina home machine. My own machine quilting journey actually started with learning feather quilting before I went back and learned the different background motifs. It was the desire to be able to quilt feathers that started me on my machine quilting journey.
I absolutely love this next picture because it show three of the Subtle Strings colors coming together.
When I first started quilting feathers, I actually drew out every single feather on the quilt. After quilting many, many, many feathers, I eventually was able to quilt my feathers free-hand. Nowadays, I might mark where I roughly want my feather spine to be if I am unsure, but I rarely follow the line exactly. You can sort of see what I mean in the following picture.
Here are a few more pictures.
One huge reason I like quilting is because quilting is an ongoing learning process in that I can look back and track my growth, so to speak. Looking at the feathers from one of my first feather pieces back in 2008, and compare them to the ones I just quilted on Thread Journey, I feel like my feathers now look like they aren’t too afraid to branch out and be adventurous. 🙂
Lastly, you have seen the front pictures… how about a couple of pictures of the quilt back showing the Subtle Strings colors coming through?
That’s it, Friends! I hope you have enjoyed our Journey together…. till next time! A big shout out to Aurifil, Windham Fabrics and Hobbs Batting for making my Thread Journey Quilt happen!
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FULL SCHEDULE:
June 2: Thread Journey: Quilt Along with Wendy Sheppard
June 16: Thread Journey: Quilt Construction, Part 1
June 30: Thread Journey: Quilt Construction, Part 2
July 14: Thread Journey: Quilt Construction, Part 3
July 28: Batting & Thread
August 11: Process of Quilting, Part 1
August 18: Process of Quilting, Part 2
August 25: Process of Quilting, Part 3
September 8: Process of Quilting, Part 4
September 15: The Finish! (Today!)
ABOUT WENDY:
Website — Instagram
Originally from Southeast Asia, Wendy came to the US for her tertiary education. After her degrees in Chemical Engineering, she worked in research in a wind tunnel for a spell. Nowadays, she is a stay/work-at-home Mom to a 7 year old. Wendy’s designs have been featured in major quilting publications, both home and abroad. She is also an author for Landauer Publishing, as well as an online quilting instructor. She is passionate about encouraging quilters to enjoy their quilting journey. During her free time, she loves to read history, and indulges in hand needlework.
ABOUT SUBTLE STRINGS: (Wendy’s 2015 Aurifil Thread Collection)
12 Large Spools of 100% Aurifil Cotton, 50wt
Colors included:
2310 – 2847 – 4060 – 2130 – 2715 – 5021
2210 – 2510 – 2886 – 2326 – 2423 – 5014
Gorgeous finish!!
Full of salient points. Don’t stop beileving or writing!
Thanks Wendy. I’ve been following along.
Beautiful….did I miss it? Do you have a pattern for this quilt! I am amazed at your beautiful work!
Hi Pamela! You can take a peek back at all of the posts via the schedule at the bottom of this post. The first one was on June 2 and Wendy walks you through all of the steps with tutorials and appliqué templates. If there is anything you can’t find, let us know! 🙂 have fun!!
I have really enjoyed following along as you created this quilt. Your quilting is amazing!! I really want to make this one for my mother in law. She would love it.
My top is together and I want to start the quilting, may need a few glasses of wine :). I love what you did with yours!! And I plan on trying to duplicate what you did. I know mine probably won’t turn out exactly like yours, but I have so enjoyed your detailed ” Thread Journey”
Thanks for an awesome Summer!!
Beautiful! Just beautiful! My machine needs a doctor…smells like burning rubber and running at the speed of a slow snail. But, I’ve loved the journey so far and will continue when after the doctor cures my machine 🙂 Thank you so much Wendy. I’ve learned a lot!
Wow! Just gorgeous!
Wendy, your quilt is just so amazing. I have been practicing and practicing. I hope that next time I will do better. I have learned so much on this Thread Jou5with you. Thank you, Aurifil for sponsoring Wendy and this sew along.
Thread Journey. .. my smart phone makes me look so dumb!
Just a wonderful quilt. Wendy, you’re design and quilting are outstanding. I hope someday to make this gorgeous quilt though the quilting will need to be down-scaled for me. 🙂 Thanks you for all your kind words and the lovely pattern.
Very beautiful
A gorgeous ending!! Wendy, thanks for your guidance throughout the entire process.
Love your finish. I’m a bit behind on mine because of moving cross country. That is my next project to finish. Thank you for your guidance.
Thank you Wendy!! And, thank you Aurifil for doing this!
Just so enjoy sewing with all my Aurifil threads! All the colors and all the weights. Fab!
Nice quilts, I love the brights
your quilts just are fabulous, and fun to read and examine the gorgeous thread paint