A friend stopped by on Monday, and I deeply appreciated the conversation I had with her. She currently has the same difficulty with her vision in BOTH eyes that my husband is coping with in his right eye (Central Serous Retinopathy). My husband had the unfortunate additional complication of having a very, very bad allergic reaction to an injection used to diagnose the problem, and after being in and out of the ER and coping with his reactions to medications he was put on to deal with the allergic reaction (he’s very, very sensitive to medicine), we are finally back to a stable place and starting to cope with the initial eye condition again. So it was lovely to talk with her about what her doctors have told her about the condition and get some additional information / food for thought.
While she was visiting, she mentioned that she was picking up quilting again after a long break but that she didn’t have the visual acuity to quilt her quilts. She asked if I would consider quilting for her while her vision recovers, and I was happy to work with her. The first quilt she left for me to quilt for her is a kit of Initial K Studio’s Cascade Quilt, which is a beautiful rainbow of color.
Cascade Quilting for Sally
Sally and I considered the thread and general quilting scheme. She wanted horizontal lines for the quilting, which I agreed would work well with the design, so that part was easy.
Cascade Quilting for Sally – Quilting Detail
Sally also quickly agreed with my suggestion to use 50wt Aurifil 3817 (Marrakesh), which is variegated thread in a rainbow of colors. I think it adds some fun detail to the quilt.
Cascade Quilting for Sally – Peak at Backing
The quilting also brings a pop of color to the solid white backing. Sally plans to bind this with leftover strips of color from the front piecing in a scrappy manner. I think it will be a perfect way to finish it!
Linking up with Finish it Friday.
You and Sally do beautiful work. I hope we get to sew a photo of this quilt bound – I love scrappy bindings.
I’m glad to hear your husband is making progress.
This is such a lovely bright quilt, Yvonne and the quilting really sets it off! Don’t let your husband have a flu shot – my Dad developed a life threatening and very rare auto-immune disease after having one a few years ago. Hope everything is going okay now!
It can be so helpful to talk to someone who knows exactly what you’re going through. I’m glad you have Sally to talk to, and that your husband is doing better. Sally’s quilt is gorgeous and that variegated straight line quilting is perfect for it 🙂
You both did a wonderful job – the quilt is beautiful. Straight line quilting was the perfect call. I’m glad your husband is doing better, and hopefully he’ll be fully recovered soon!
Very fun quilt! Love the straight line stitching.
It is stunning! Love solids!
You both did an amazing job bringing this quilt to life. Sometimes simple straight lines adds so much. Marrakesh was a prefect thread choice for a rainbow quilt. Glad to hear your husband is doing much better.
This quilt is both simple and complex! I love the color cascade and I love that she chose white for the backing. 🙂
What great team work. It is beautiful, although I may be partial to crisp straight lines.
Yvonne, this looks amazing. The simplicity of the design and the quilting are exquisite.
Its a beautiful quilt and the quilting is pretty perfect for the design. I’m sure you and your husband are pretty happy to be on the other side of the complications!
What a lovely finish! The quilt top was yummy by itself, and the quilting took it to the next level! 🙂
It’s luminous! The quilting really brings the quilt to life. I bet that variegated thread looks lovely in person!
Gorgeous quilting on her wonderful, simple quilt of many colors. I’m glad you are finding people to help you along this path of dealing with CSR. Vision is precious, and more so, I think, to people who are creatively involved with the world. Thanks for a lovely post this morning.
The Cascade Quilt is perfect, great job by Sally and you. I love the machine quilting and the thread color. Good to hear your husband and you are doing better.
Such a beautiful quilt. Thank you for the link to CSR – very interesting information. Have had corneal transplants, detached retina, etc. and can empathize with the stress caused by vision loss.
Lovely quilt! Nice collaboration between you two.
Yvonne, it’s perfect! Love your choice of the straight lines!
Love the quilt and way it brought conversation to the table for both of you. Happy to hear your husband is getting better.
This is a beauty! The straight line quilting is perfect for this – nicely done!
FYI you and I have a distant connection due to your work as an aerospace engineer – my uncle was the pilot of the B-29 that launched Yeager in breaking the sound barrier.
I am so sorry to hear of your husbands eye problems Yvonne, I hope it settles down and he responds to the treatment. I have cataract on both my eyes and will need surgery, but at least there is a solution. The worst thing for me is seeing colours clearly, I keep thinking I will have the surgery and then realise I have a collection of over bright and garish quilts! Your friends quilt is a beautiful rainbow of colour, and you quilted it perfectly.
This is so pretty and the quilting could not have been more appropriate. Congrats on a fabulous finish, Yvonne!
What a lovely and fun quilt!
The quilting adds just the right amount of texture and interest to this quilt without pulling from the design and colors. I love the variegated thread, is it Marrakesh? Are these free-hand straight lines, or do you have a channel lock, or did you use a ruler?
Great questions. Yup, it’s Marrakesh (3817). I used channel lock for this one and spent my time nudging the quilt around to keep it as square as possible.
Beautiful quilt! I too had the question about the straight lines (which I see you answered for the comment right above mine). The variegated thread adds to perfect amount of color to the quilting.
That is stunning – and the quilting sets it off a treat – I love the subtlety of the rainbow thread!
Being able to talk to someone who understands and knows what your husband is dealing with is helpful to both you and your husband.
The quilting is perfect for this beautiful quilt. This is what I love the most about quilters, we are willing to help each other out, whether with words or a quilting skill. I hope, and it sounds like, your visit was encouraging.
Beautiful quilt and beautiful quilting. It’s always satisfying to help a friend!
This is beautiful! I love the straight lines and really, really like the colour of the thread on the backing. I hope your hubby recovers soon and I’m so glad you have someone with the same condition who knows exactly what you guys are going through.
Great work, and I love the opening photo.
I’ve had retina issues too; sorry the two of you have had to deal with the complications of allergies as well.
It’s a beautiful quilt! The variated thread is a good option! Keep in my mind! I hope Sally and your husband are going to be better soon…
beautiful collaboration, and I’m thankful for the common ground so to speak…
This is a beautiful quilt and the lines are so perfect! When you quilt in straight lines like this do you always quilt in the same direction or do you vary the direction? The fabric between you quilting lines does not pull or pucker. Is the direction of the quilting the secret to this?
Beautiful quilt, and the straight lines of variegated thread are perfect! I also have CSR in both eyes, and have had it for 10 years. The doctor says that stress can cause it to flare, but then I get stressed knowing that I could make it worse! LOL
The straight line quilting on this was the perfect choice as was the thread color, although when I saw the photos on Instagram, I thought you used white thread. The scrappy rainbow binding is really going to look beautiful as well. I hope that Michael is continuing to heal and that you are both getting the answers and ongoing treatment that he needs.
I’m glad your husband is back to stable – what a rough go of it. The quilt is beautiful, and the quilting thread choice makes it even better!
It sounds like you and your husband have had a worrying time. I hope now that he’s stable again things improve for his eyes. The quilt is lovely.
I love the straight line quilting! It’s great when quilters work together. Those are great colors!
Saw this on Instagram, LOVE, but it’s even better on the laptop this morning!! Eye issues are alarming to say the least; I’ve been going through worrying ones of my own over the past couple of years. Adding reactions to medications on top of that is beyond awful. Hope your husband heals and will be okay.
I send my very best to you and your husband. The quilt looks fantastic!
I’m so happy to hear he is doing a little better. It is nice to know that others have had similar experiences. Love this quilt and the quilting.
Sometimes simple is best 🙂 It is so effective!