Stone Washed Leaves

The piece of discharge fabric with the large tropical leaf stencil was intriguing me, I thought it looked like stone washed blue jeans. I decided I wanted to quilt it wholecloth, and not cut it up. So I went through my Bali batiks, and some other fabrics until I found an assortment to go with the leaves. Kind of a gray, peachy, tan, and creamy, color blend.

While cutting strips up for a border, I decided I did not want a symmetrical square quilt, it was too much black in the center, and I was choosing light colors for the border, to match the discharged areas. The resulting border was added on the left and bottom, with strip sets of the batiks, and a narrower plain border on the top and right. Choosing the width of the plain border was a challenge, I even asked my husband's opinion. He is very good about constructive advice, and I often take it, but he accepts that I go my own way occasionally. So I have no problem asking him, when I can't make up my mind about a decision.

The quilt top went together quickly, and the next morning I started quilting on it with rayon thread. I choose 6 different colors of thread to quilt in the leaves, one for each shade of leaf, gold, lavender, cream, silver, charcoal, and rust. I don't know if it made any difference at all, it is not very noticeable. I used an outline/echo quilting pattern, and used the same in black for the background and border. I finished it in a solid black binding, with the backing and sleeve black also.

The three photos of the whole quilt are, the top only, and then after the quilting, and a closeup. I think it looks very crisp and modern, but it also has an Egyptian look to it, especially with the quilting in the background, which is hard to see in the photo. So I am very pleased with it, it is a beautifully shaded piece of fabric, and not cutting it up, really showcased the discharging.