Cow Pony Rust Quilt....Auditioning Threads

When Mother Nature Speaks......I need to listen more closely

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Intentionally Blank

I last left you when I was in a state of indecision

I was trying to decide whether to put the horse shoes on the top or the bottom.

I was trying to listen to what the quilt was asking for...

I should have been listening to "Mother Nature"

"Ye Shall Not make Design Choices when having HOTflashes"

My brain was BLANK...

I have known this about myself for years now.

I cannot make color choices or design decisions when my hormones are flaring.

Instead of listening to my body, I was behaving like a quilter, I was listening to the quilt.

I left the Thread Shed for a couple of days until it was safe to....go back in.

I just love the rusting on the horse shoes

You can really appreciate rust dyeing in all its splendor in these close ups of the horse shoes worn by Dancer the Cow Pony.

Dancer started out as my trail horse in 1991. He was like riding a rocking horse and he had the best personality. He eventually became my husband's #1 roping horse, and what a time they had together. I have videos of the two of them in the arena roping horns and feet. Dancer earned the name Cow Pony because he loved cattle so much. When he wasn't in the roping arena, you could find him out in the pasture surround by a herd of yearling cattle. This is known as being "cowy."

After the hotflashes subsided 2 days later...

I walked into the Thread Shed....took one look at the design wall...

and immediately knew where to put the horse shoes.

They didn't belong on the top....or the bottom.....they belonged on the side!

What a relief....my indecision had passed.

I thought I would take advantage of my moment of clear thinking and make some thread choices.

I chose thin 60 wt. Bottom Line polyester thread for my threadwork on Dancer's face.

I absolutely love these threads for threadplay. They are fine and do not overwhelm the photographic quality of the image.

You can see threadwork on our dog SUZY HERE

Sample Quilting Sandwiches

Next I auditioned thread for the wide border area around the central image.

I went straight for YLI Variations Polyester threads. They have a very subtle color change and a beautiful sheen and they free motion quilt beautifully with a balanced stitch front and back side.

I also threw in a Robinson Anton Metallic and a Mettler Orange Polyester.

I am thinking I need a subtle, neutral color.

I don't want to overwhelm those gorgeous rusted motifs.

I spool out a generous amount of thread to puddle up on the fabric and give me a realistic idea of what the thread will look like stitched out.

I removed the darkest and the lightest threads.

These 4 threads are the finalists.

I will stitch them out on the sample sandwiches and see how they look.

Straight Stitch Thread Plate

I removed the zig zag stitch plate on the right and replaced it with the single hole straight stitch plate. I get a beautiful stitch on the back side of my quilt with the single hole.

Titanium Needles

Rust Dyed Fabric is tough to stitch through...

This is the strongest, sharpest needle in the cupboard.

I drew a few lines on the sample sandwiches... I am ready to stitch out a few of these threads to see which one will make it into the quilt.

Stay Tuned...

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE