When the dark night seems endless!

When the quilting seems endless

I did not realize how appropriate this title was for my canal houses until I started quilting it. The quilting seems endless. I am finally nearing the end of the quilting after 5 days of going at it. I am using a walking foot since I want straight lines and the quilt is large and has to be wrestled through the machine sometimes. And as usual the whole time I am quilting it I am second guessing what I have chosen to do in terms of quilting as well as the thread colors. We all know you see each and every one of your little imperfections as you get up close and personal during the quilting process. My husband mentioned something about the Amish making a mistake on purpose and asked if I did that. I told him I did not have to make mistakes on purpose since they happen without me knowing I am making them!

I am looking into teaching an Olli class on making an art quilt from a photo. Olli classes are big up here. Lots of things are offered from history to science to art and music. Any ideas for a title for the class? I will be chatting with someone from Olli about it. They set up classes pretty far ahead so we are looking at winter session 2019.....plenty of time to prepare. Sometimes I get a little nervous about doing it and wonder if I am artistic enough to teach an art class.

I am starting to think about my next quilt after I finish the canal houses. I think it will be my rusted toxic barrels. I've decided to widen the field of view to show more barrels....a wide and narrow quilt. The canal houses were skinny and tall. This will be the opposite. 

Originally I had edited out a lot of the barrels in the photo. I am also thinking of using my rust dyed fabrics and using fabric paint to color them since now they are white with rust. I guess I could over dye the fabrics, but am concerned about controlling the colors plus my dyes are getting pretty old. I thought maybe with paint that would work better and be less messy. 

I like that the barrels are so colorful which of course hides what is inside. Many of the barrels have numbers stamped on them and I plan on doing that as well. Also the skull and crossbones seen in the photo will be good to add. I want them to look pretty from a distance and then alarming when getting up close.

Toxic Barrels

Thanks for reading.

Chris