Look Up, By George

That's my name for the blue and white trapunto wholecloth I've shown a few in-progress pictures of. It's done ! with it's little imperfections, and I'm glad. I don't think I'll attempt another shadow trapunto quilt. If there's a next time, I'll do regular trapunto or get someone else to trim the batting - I slit the sheer top layer of white fabric about 10 times trying to get close to the stitching lines.

One of the full quilt -



Some closeups -

no flash makes it sepia toned - but shows the quilting detail much better.


The last photo shows how I made the textured triangles, which I based on a photo of an Erte design. The long vertical lines are 1/4 inch apart and were done with a straight edge. The ones that make the triangle were free handed afterwards between the 1/4 inch lines. For scale, the largest cirle at the top fits in a 1/2 inch space. Those were also quilted free hand, but I used a circle template to make the smooth arch that separates them from the triangles.



And now to address the question, where did I get that title "Look Up, By George" - I started with quick little sketches of architectural details from George Vanderbilt's Biltmore house and furnishings that I made when Jeff and Joanna visited last Christmas-New Years. (photography is not permitted inside the house.) Some of the sketches were from ceilings. The center design started with a motif from a photo of a tin library ceiling in New England, but I made it into a feathered quilted medallion. The quilt was made in response to this year's Asheville Quilt Show theme, Carolina Blues.