Texture was the name of the game this month. Origami came to mind and while going through all the books of folded fabric that our library had to offer, I came across this smocking pattern in Folded Fabric Elegance by Rami Kim. I love the suggestion of basketweave.
The green bordering it looks much darker in the photo than in real life. The other two colors in my package form a simple border.
The smocking in progress before trimming and pressing:
Below is the back view at the same point in the process. Here you can see the 1/2" grid of dots that guide all the hand stitching. Following a simple diagram in the book, dots are brought together to form the pleats with lots of knotting between stitches. It takes a few minutes to find your groove, but once I had it, I found the whole process meditative. I've got to find some other ways to use this technique and I may need to order that book. (There are 2 or 3 additional smocking patterns in it along with other fabric origami techniques. One is a VERY cool way to make continuous prairie point edging, with some interesting ways to press them into other shapes.)
Sarah, I thought I'd get this in the mail before I left on a short trip tomorrow, but I'm so enthralled with that center piece I need to bring it to my quilt group first. I promise to pop it in the mail right after the ladies get a look at it.
8 comments:
oh my gosh - this is so incredible...amazing Wendy - just wow!
I have never seen basketweave looking smocking. It is just fantastic.
amazing... really!
you're crazy! crazy awesome that is!
You guys, this quilt is gonna be so awesome!
Love this block!
this is really amazing texture. great idea to use smocking!
eek! This is amazing! I love it!
These textured blocks have totally inspired me. I've been commissioned to make a quilt for a couple where the lady is blind, and I wanted to make it special for her, this has given me some great ideas - I'm following the blog now so I don't miss anything :-)
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