Stages for quilting an art quilt
Preparation of the final quilt top includes a careful pressing and trimming of any bad seams.
Here is the finished pieced top for the first of the Pundit pieces. I decided to use a neutral gray green instead of bright red for the head in front.
Pundit, quilt top in progress
Preparing a back for the piece was a simple matter of assembling the scraps of fabric I had from the top. A simple geometric stacking does the trick.
Pundit, quilt back in progress
Here the piece is sandwiched with the backing and the batting and basted for stability. I do this by hand with a slightly thicker thread that is easy to tear away as I start stitching. While stitching I get to know the surface of the quilt, noticing any bumps or bulges. I also plan the stitching patterns at this stage. An example of this is in the upper right corner of the top where the hand is pointing at the corner. I should have cut the fabric so that there was excess at the corner. This will have to be fixed before I stitch that area.
Pundit, quilt top sandwiched with backing and batting and basted
The beginning stages of stitching. This is the messiest stage for me. I often lose track of what I want the piece to look like because of all the loose ends.
Pundit, stitching and planning