Susan Cleveland has sent TQS and "up close" look at her quilt Hippie Daisies. The quilt has all kinds of little design details that add up to a wonderful quilt. To see Susan at work, watch Episode 1001: Masterful Miters and Perfect Prairie Points.
Here, in more detail, is what Susan has to say about the photos and her techniques:
Hippie Daisies by Susan K Cleveland, 2010, 11"x20"; This piece was made with Ricky's hand-dyed fabric and it gives a groovy vibe to the piece. This little quilt makes me smile.
Linen Gauze Sequins - The white background piece is linen gauze. I starched it to keep its shape, frayed the edges and pinned it to the hand-dyed background before appliqueing daisies. Since I couldn't think of how to quilt the linen section, I sprinkled square sequins throughout stitching through all layers. It seems just right.
Glowing Applique - First, to keep the white flowers white with no background showing through, I used Pellon Décor-Bond rather than traditional fusible web. This product is a heavy non-woven interfacing and it masks color under the flowers. I then stitched machine applique with WonderFil Spagetti 12wt cotton thread to give a bold blanket stitch around appliques. For a glow, I quilted around the daisies by machine also with WonderFil Spagetti 12wt cotton thread but in another color.
Morse Code - I love hand quilting and especially with heavy thread. This technique was a new idea for me! With 2 strands of WonderFil Spagetti 12wt cotton thread and a 7 or 8 between needle, I hand quilted with large stitches and intermittently inserted French knots into the lines of quilting! fyi ... there is no message.
Ric Rac - Life is too short for plain bindings. Large white ric rac seemed like the logical choice for me.
To see more of Susan's award-winning work, click here to go to her website.