Sunday, September 29, 2019

Textured Twist Revisited

Ever since I made my first large quilt using my Textured Twist technique (Louver), I've been subconsciously working on a design for my next quilt.  Eventually a plan started forming and I knew what I had to do.  

Doing the Textured Twists technique isn't a fast process.  It takes perseverance and you have to be in it for the long haul!  That being said, I was ready to take it on knowing there would be no turning back.  Full force ahead!


38" x 53" 
I had to be all in when I started this quilt.  This kind of quilt is better appreciated when you see it in person or see close up photos.  That most likely puts me in the 'crazy' category, but I've been there before!  Deep down I was doubting myself and wondering if all this work is worth it.  If you can't share the full impact...what's the point?!  Determination to keep my technique in the forefront, dedication to making the design come alive and refusal to fail motivated me!



The starting point of quilting always begins with the fabric.  Choosing and then cutting.  I grabbed my stack of blues and developed my 'ombre' plan ending up with 32 different shades of blue.  That's a lot!  Thankfully I have yardage and fat quarters to round out my plan.  

The second step is to press, starch and cut the strips.  With yardage I cut my 3/4" strips and then cut them in half, and with fat quarters I cut double that along the longest side.  After cutting each color I placed them on a board to keep the gradient in order.

Step three is cutting the 1" strips that sandwich the 3/4" folded strips, in this case I was using Kona White.  Again cutting off the fold to make the strips manageable.



And the final step is pressing the starched blue strips in half.  That's right!  The 3/4" folded strips in half is 3/8", factor in 1/4" seam allowance and the 'twist' becomes 1/8".  That's where the magic happens.  That's how you get the texture, the detail and the illusion.

I learned after the last quilt that pressing the strips in half becomes super painful after a while!  I wanted to dip my fingers in a jar of aloe for relief!  The steam from the iron is crucial to get a good fold, but it also scorches your fingers.  

A few months ago I saw something that I thought might be the solution to that. 



Thermal Thimbles!  I had never heard of such a thing!  Willing to take a chance I ordered a package and tucked them away until now.  They were quite inexpensive too!  Thank you Dritz for making my life easier!  Time to test them out....



Stylin' the blue!



And you know what?  They work!  Holy heck!  A tool that works and will make my life easier is always worth the money!  

I used one on my thumb and one on my index finger.  The only problem, and it really wasn't a problem, was you can't feel the fabric.  My solution was to use my middle finger to start the fold and my protected fingers for the iron part.  I highly recommend these Thermal Thimbles to anyone who does a lot of ironing.  You'll thank me I promise!

With that out of the way, I pieced together my sections of twists working on one wave at a time.  



I was fully aware of where the lighter sections were being placed because that was all a part of the plan.  



The twist illusion starts with one side of the twists sewn in the seam one way, and the opposite side in the other direction.  That's the texture part.



The illusion part is achieved by ironing and the angle you view the quilt.  It never disappoints for me!



Another way to get the full effect of the ombre and all the detail involved in making a quilt like this is the back of the top.   Of course, you'll never see that part after the quilt is finished.  But it's worth a look!

I know what some of you are thinking...the back might be better than the front!  Or maybe even...are you crazy!  Crazy, yes.  The back is gorgeous, but many quilt top backs are.  And I'm pretty sure that the majority of us are not going to flip a seam laden back and make it the front.  It's just part of quilting!



Anytime I can make my husband think I'm crazy is always a plus!  He insists I was inspired from our recent trip to the beach, but he is so wrong!  Something like this takes months and months of planning!  Not so much on paper, but it's a process that has to simmer in my mind for a time until I'm ready to fully commit!

Next up will be the quilting, which is really a no brainer.  Dense organic horizontal curves.  The last thing you want to do is quilt over the Textured Twists!


LINKING:
PEACOCK PARTY   TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY
  

25 comments :

  1. Amazing! Looks very effective (and boy, you have a tonne of patience!)

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    1. I felt the need to continue my textured twist adventure and keep the technique alive!

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  2. I marvel at your creativity and precision. This quilt is just one more great addition to your artistic creations.

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    1. I’m pretty pleased with how it came together. There is always a point where I get frustrated and think its not working, but I remind myself to push through the doubt and keep going. So far that mindset hasn’t failed me!

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  3. it's fabulous! the color placement is perfect. hmmm I'm going to have to get me some of those thermal thimbles! thanks for the tip

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    1. I went back and forth on whether it was working or not…in the end it came together the way I had hoped. The thermal thimbles are well worth the money! They are very inexpensive!

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  4. OMG, it's stunning! Your creativity, skill, and patience are amazing.

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  5. There are all sorts of crazy and this quilt is crazy good! Your determination is inspiring. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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  6. I am sooooo impressed! But shucks, I was impressed you had so many blues! lol I am NOT brave enough to try this but I love the effect and can hardly wait to see the dense quilting you propose on the kona white. Please post your finished work. Blessings....

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  7. Another cool looking quilt! Glad you found those things to protect your fingers. I have something similar to those for machine quilting. I like them so far as opposed to wearing the gloves.

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  8. We are all running out of superlatives for this one, Jayne. Magnificent, super cool, and WOW will have to suffice. As for sharing the full impact: 1. I certainly hope you will enter this stunner in a show, and 2. What about posting a short video with the camera panning across the quilt? If you upload the video to YouTube and then imbed a link in your post, that should take care of any file size issues automatically and we should all be able to get the "in person" effect. As for being crazy -- did you read today's newspaper? I feel like those of us cutting up fabric and sewing it back together again are more sane than our national and world leaders, the executives of businesses that we interact with on a daily basis, etc.

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  9. Jayne, the look of this textured twist is just wonderful! I love how you've laid out the blues so that it looks as though the light is moving along the rows. Amazing!

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  10. Bravo, j'adore cet effet de vagues et la technique demande beaucoup de minutie. Merveilleux travail! Bonne semaine. Amicalement

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  11. Jayne! It takes a lot to make me say WOW!! out loud, and this post did for sure! I really hope you're planning to submit this to a quilt show, because it's going to look even better with a freakin' blue ribbon attached to it!! Ah-maze-ing!!

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  12. Kudos to you for your quilt! It's absolutely gorgeous! I admire your patience and dedication to the quilting arts. Those insulated fingers are amazing aren't they? I have some-purchased when I was making yards and yards of bias tape and could not stand the pain of the burnt fingers any longer.

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  13. I agree with your husband. You ARE crazy!!! Crazy inventor of this quilt-making technique. This is ground-breaking, Jayne. I'd trademark it right away. It is a crazy mix of art, engineering and perseverance to achieve the end result. No one else could have done that!!!

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    1. I agree with Preeti! You ARE crazy, and you should trademark it. The percolating process alone took just the right amount of time to end up with this beauty! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  14. Hi Jayne! WOW. Words escape me other than this is just fabulous. You are truly a gifted artiste, and I'm so glad you are sharing your work on your blog. You could be selfish and just keep all this beauty for yourself, so I thank you heartily for that. I can see where the Thermal Thimbles would be priceless for the painstakingly slow process of ironing those strips. Yowza. I hope you plan to enter this into a show because you deserve the blue ribbon for this piece. {{Hugs}} . Great job! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  15. This is incredible! Such a cool idea, inspiring art and great craftsmanship. It will be a QuiltCon shoo-in I'm sure.

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  16. What an amazing quilt! Such an interesting technique. And you have mad skills!

    The thermal thimbles are a great find. I had no idea they existed.

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  17. So stunning! This is a true ribbon winner!!

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  18. That is such a cool quilt! And I'll have to check out those Thermal Thimbles.

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  19. Fabulous quilt!! I've made one "twisted" quilt and now I want to make this one!!! Gorgeous!!!

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  20. Oh wow Jayne, your twist technique just gets better!! I can imagine it's a huge job to take on and well done for doing it, it was so worth it! The blues blend and swish so well in your design, its so effective, also congrats on finding those thermal thimbles, what a finger saver :)

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