First of all, I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas. I hope that you are able to be with friends, family, and even possibly find some moments of peaceful solitude and joy.
Fox Wholecloth Quilt – Positioning the Foxes
I am excited to report in with progress on the Fox Wholecloth Quilt today. My goal is to have the quilt complete before the end of the year (eek!). I took stock of all the Kona Astral fabric I had available, and I was able to piece together a quilt top that is approximately 70″ x 94″ and a quilt backing that is approximately 75″ x 99″. After that quick piecing, it was time to place the foxes on the quilt top.
The foxes are 47″ wide and 20″ tall at the extremes. My husband and I went back and forth about the best size to make the foxes, but based on where the quilt is going to be used, we did not want to make the foxes any bigger as the detail will get lost when viewed. Let me try to explain that a bit!
Wabi-Sabi Overland Bed Cubby
In our custom expedition truck that we are building (Wabi-Sabi Overland), the bed will run side to side in the back of the apartment. The walls that are built to partition the bed from the dinette and kitchen will allow a view of the quilts on the bed, so we wanted to maximize how the foxes were viewed from a side perspective.
Fox Wholecloth Quilt – Positioning Foxes
To keep the placement and relationship between the playful foxes the same, when I cut out the silhouettes I left a strip connecting the two foxes. Once I got the majority of both bodies traced onto the quilt top, I finished trimming the foxes so I could complete the outlines.
Fox Wholecloth Quilt – Background Quilting
I loaded the quilt on my longarm horizontally, in the orientation it will be viewed on the bed. To keep the foxes the star of the quilt, my husband and I agreed that I would quilt straight lines for the background (each line above is 94-inches long). Of course I initially thought that 1-inch spacing would be fine, but you know me and my love for quilting density… once I got the quilt loaded I quickly changed to 1/2-inch spacing instead!
I am using Aurifil Forty3 thread in 2725 (Light Wedgewood) which blends in perfectly with the Kona Astral. In the photo above, I used 3 bobbins and had quilted about 23% of the width of the quilt.
Fox Wholecloth Quilt – Background Quilting
Now that I have reached the fox silhouettes, my progress has slowed. It takes time to start and stop the quilting.
Fox Wholecloth Quilt – Background Quilting
And it takes even more time to tie off and bury all the threads.
Fox Wholecloth Quilt – Background Quilting
Once the threads are buried it looks amazing, though! You might also note that I have begun to make the horizontal lines even more dense. My plan is to get to matchstick quilting to help define the “ground” at the base of the foxes and then to quickly go back to 1/2″ spacing for the bottom portion of the background.
I am almost done quilting around the silhouettes, and after I am done with all the stops and starts around them, finishing the background quilting should proceed quickly. I plan to then remove the quilt from my longarm, square it, and bind it. Then I will take the quilt to my domestic and quilt the foxes, starting by outlining them and then filling them in with the quilting motifs my husband and I had previously sketched out.
I still have a week left before the end of the year. I hope I can get the quilt completed. If not, I will have a quilt finish for early next year!
Love the quilt. My youngest daughter is a huge fox fan.
All those threads to knot and bury, but it is looking great. Merry Christmas!
This is looking so good.
Wow, what an interesting quilt! Those are a lot of threads to bury. Have a wonderful holiday week!
It’s going to be so worth it! Happy quilting and a very Merry Christmas.
This is an amazing quilt. Take some time to enjoy the holiday before you go back to quilting.
Love the color of the Astral blue, and really like how it is turning out. That thread burying looks like back-breaking work!
It’s looking so good, Yvonne! I love how much your husband is collaborating with you on this project.
The quilt is looking good. I admire your patience with all those quilting lines and stops and starts.:-)
WOW
oh wow. This is looking really good! I clicked thru to remind myself how you were going to outline, and the motifs – alot of work still to go, but this is going to be really unique and personal. Have fun as you continue on – you really have come SO far in the overall process from conception to finish…
Beautiful work! You will both treasure this quilt, I know!
I actually enjoy burying threads and seeing the quilting design get tidier and tidier! I hope you are feeling growing satisfaction and delight as this cool quilt comes together! The photos of Wabi-Sabi are showing a lot of progress, too 🙂
I love the way this is looking. You may make it but a few days late won’t hurt. Enjoy the holidays and enjoy the process it will be done when it is and will be another masterpiece. Merry Christmas.
What a beautiful job. When I saw the wolf motifs in white, I thought you meant to applique on top of the quilting. So seeing all the detail cleared it up for me. I look forward to seeing the motifs you and your husband have designed for the wolf bodies. Are you tying off and burying your threads on the back as you roll the quilt? Whenever you finish it, it will be beautiful.
Oh wow…you ARE getting it done!!! It looks amazing, even in progress. Wishing you and Mr. Fuchs a blessed Christmas and I will look for that PEACEFUL joy and solitude you mentioned. I filled out a wishlist from my LQS and 1-4 were quilty, #5: PEACE and QUIET.
This is so beautiful, Yvonne! I love the silhouette of the foxes and you are right that with the quilting behind them, they look amazing! What a unique piece!
Hello Yvonne, Merry Christmas to both of you! Your quilt is fabulous, I can hardly wait to see it completed! Thank you for sharing and have a fabulous day!
Oh Boy! It’s looking great and I can’t wait to see the finished product. You’ll get it done, I’m certain of that – I have faith in you girl!
It looks amazing. I can’t wait to see more. Good luck.
THis is looking so awesome!
I love how the animals are emerging from the non-quilted areas.
Amazing work, Yvonne. But I’ll admit, my first thought was, “Oh my! So many threads to bury!” It looks so great, though! Worth the effort, definitely. I can’t wait to see the quilting in those foxes.
I had forgotten about the symbols. This is going to be so amazing Yvonne