Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Cathy's Ocean Revisited

Today's post is brought to you by kismet or fate or karma or one of those forces in the universe. The other day a friend and devoted customer emailed to say hello and ask a question. She then mentioned that she'd seen my write-up in American Craft and saw that one of the quilts featured was a quilt I'd made for her. I replied that the editors had asked for a high resolution image of that quilt and unfortunately all I had was a pretty crappy photo I'd probably taken with a point and shoot. Being the kind and generous person she is, my friend offered to drop the quilt off for a few days so I could properly document it.
So here it is:
Its an improvisational take on the traditional Ocean Waves pattern and if you've ever looked at my flickr photostream you've seen it in my quilt set. What the original photo doesn't reveal and frankly neither does this one is how much embroidery I added to the quilt top before I basted and machine quilted it.
That's why I took these closeups.
 

 I had so much fun adding the embroidery to this piece. I remember telling my friend at the time I was working on the quilt that I found the embroidery work to be so calming. I just couldn't seem to stop myself. Also, I used wool embroidery thread which I feel is the perfect compliment to a lot of the hand dyed fabrics. The wool has such an amazing richness of color it really suits the color saturation of the fabrics.
For those who might be interested in some of the mundane details, the quilt measures about 30" x 40" and features both hand dyed and commercial cottons.

18 comments:

Kresta said...

I love it. I have toyed with embroidering on the tops of my quilts for a while but way always concerned it would look hokey. I don't think mine will look at good as yours but I'm inspired to try it!

Gill said...

This is so beautiful!
Thank you for showing us!

Lucy-Living said...

Adorable! I'm speechless about all the beauty!
Thanks a lot for showing us this amazing quilt!

em's scrapbag said...

What a great quilt. I love the contrast of the bright colors and your embroidery adds so much. Thanks for including the close ups.

Hoola Tallulah said...

OMG! You know, I have been seeing quilts on some of the blogs I read for a while, and have been vaguely interested, but have never really felt inclined to have a go myself. Today I landed here, and I am SO inspired, I am totally in love with your use of colour, the incredible fabrics you make, and the embroidered details on this quilt are stunning - how did you do that so it looked neat on the back too? Did you embroider before quilting? All of a sudden I am wondering what the heck is a long arm and how does this woman do SO much? You and your work are truly awe inspiring, I need to add some quilting books to my Amazon wish list, yours included!

elizabethdee said...

How beautiful! Makes me want to go forth and embroider.

If I may, a question: can you launder a quilt embroidered in wool?

Malka Dubrawsky said...

Hi Elizabeth- I don't think you can machine wash it, but I think that gentle hand washing is OK. My friend wanted the quilt as a wall hanging, so laundering it wasn't as much a concern.
If I wanted to do this type of embroidery on a quilt that I intended to wash repeatedly I'd probably use cotton or linen embroidery thread.

Bonnie said...

Malka, this quilt is priceless! I couldn't stop staring at the close-ups. They weren't close enough. I wanted to reach out and touch it!!
What beautiful inspiration.

Caroline @ Artfully Caroline said...

You are a true artist. I wish I had an ouce of your talent !

ali said...

Wow--amazing color, texture, love! I'm inspired. I am very inspired. Thanks so much, Malka, for the great details, and Malka's friend, for sharing this treasure.

Lisa said...

That may be the most beautiful quilt I've ever seen. Stunning!

meli B said...

I don't know how you could ever bear to part with it. It must have been wonderful to see it again.

Poppyprint said...

This is such a cool piece. I love all of the embroidery details which personalize it and really make it even more of a unique, brilliant one of a kind than it already is! Once again, a colour masterpiece. Wow.

Kristi said...

I just love the close-ups of the wonderful detail. I have just recently used wool floss and love it. When I see your work, I feel sad for all the Yellow-Brick Roads out there. Why not spend some time developing the quilt? Some are in such a hurry to finish.

Bea said...

How beautiful! Amazing work! :)
Also, may I ask where one can buy wool embroidery thread in the USA? And linen thread? Because I have been looking for it, and never managed to find it here (being from Europe where it's readily available)...
Thank you!

maeve315@msn.com said...

Amazingly gorgeous quilt! I finally have your latest book and it is a work of art itself! So much color and inspiration!

monika@mysweetprairie.ca said...

i love all the handy word you put into it! Lovely. Those are the best pieces - the ones that make the viewer have to come right up close and touch it ;)

Quilt Doodles said...

It is beautiful. I absolutely love the embroidery. YOu are so talented.