Moonflowers: April Journal Quilt

This quilt seems so different for me, and I guess that's good because the entire point of my journal quilts is to push myself artistically. Well, it's working.

The background fabric is a recycled jean skirt. The middle field is a linen look fabric with artichoke stamps. The foreground is silver lame and silver pearl cotton. I've used silver thread to stitch down the lame applique and using a metallic needle makes a huge difference.

I've never tried bobbin drawing before. I hate not being able to see what's happening (can you say [reformed] control freak). I liked being able to use the silver pearl cotton in the bobbing to make "Starry Night" swirls in my denim sky. I used a silver lame binding, and I was afraid it would be hard to work with, but it was easier than I thought. I just had to turn my iron down.

As a learning quilt, I think the journal is a success, but I'm not sure if it works all by itself. As the idea for how to use the artichoke fabric started to develop, I imagined it as a sort of companion to my March journal quilt "Sunspots," hence the title, "Moonflower."