Red Velvet

I started this quilt when I was still living in Atlanta, so some time before 1997.  I had seen the cotton velvet used in a quilt at a Quilt & Sewing Expo and thought it was really  appealing. 

I went about finding the cotton velvet to use in my quilt.  At the same time that I was looking for the fabric the Log Cabin With a Twist was popular.  Brainstorm:  Velvet and Log Cabin,  Ooooh that would be good.  What I didn't know is that this stuff stretches like a knit and wants to unravel if abused in the slightest.  Clearly this was a bit over my head at the time.  I started and kept having trouble with the fabric shifting and twisting and messing up.  After a while it became one of those back of the shelf projects that I needed to think about.

Years later, the Glad's Staff Quilt Show was Log Cabins.  Great, I have one the is partially finished and what a great reason to get it done.  Besides now I had more skills and experience, lets get it done.  I figured out that it would be much better if I used Golden Threads paper to make-up a paper piecing template to keep the logs straight and to give the velvet some stability until I could get the next round of logs on. 

I was stitching away and putting the blocks together at a retreat when I realized that some of the older blocks were really stretched out of useable shape.  So I ended up with a much smaller top than planned (I think the rejects are in dog beds somewhere).  What I left out of my plan was a couple of buiness trips that happened just before the quilt show so I never got the quilt top layered and quilted.

At the end of 2013 I ran into the project yet again while going through fabric for another quilt.  Looking at it anew I was sure that I could get it quilted and have something I would like.  Over the holidays I worked on the quilt with Page Johnson to come up with a quilting motif that would cement the layers together to stabilize the velvet and be appropriate for the formal design of the quilt.  With the addition of the lace in the cream area across from the velvet I had to fuss with the quilt as the Statler was running.  It was real easy for the hopping foot to catch the lace and just pull it out. 

While it has taken many years to get it done, I think I really like this quilt. (Yes it was a sunny day when I took the photos)