The Great Corset Challenge – Completed ( quilt reveal )
Hello, lovely quilt loving peeps!
I’m talking about the Great Corset Challenge today (see the other applicants here). ย I mentioned I was participating in this challenge earlier this month here. ย I really got moving on this quickly, buuuuuut all the hand stitching through me a curve ball, took almost the entire month.
I finished the trimming and binding last night.
It’s all done and she is looking pretty feminine and sexy, I think. ย She’s also a little coy if you didn’t notice. ย I’ve imagined her as French, you see, what with all the Cherie fabrics she must be. ย She wears her lush corset underneath slim fitting, but flowy dresses. ย It may make her look sexy and trim, but she hasn’t even noticed. ย After a breakfast of pain au croissant and a cafe au lait, she strolls leisurely about town. ย Or so, I’ve been day dreaming.
For this challenge, I used the following fabrics:
body of mannequin fabric – this musical note fabric by Tim Holtz
corset fabric – this pink gum stripe by Sara Lawson
background – this fabric was a natural muslin that I hand dyed myself in Robin’s egg blue
backing fabric – Cherie Belles Parissians by Frances Newcombe
binding fabric – Cherie Tree Fleur Sombre by Frances Newcombe
I learned something major with this challenge. ย My experiences with hand quilting (which I did all over this quilt) are very limited to just a few projects. ย I think I’ve got it down, but it’s just a matter of practicing and growing my skills. ย I’m still quite clumsy with it, I’m new. ย These skills take time. ย However, the thing I learned is to never, EVER, never hand quilt with metallic thread. ย I will never make that mistake again.
The thread was too thin. ย It kept slipping from the needle. ย And to be honest, it didn’t make the noticeable stitches that I wanted.
I used it because I thought metallic “flecks” would be pretty. ย Que, sera, sera, I guess. ย Lesson learned.
There is something I did learn. ย I learned the blanket stitch. ย Yes! ย And I will tell you that it is the loveliest of all stitches. ย Look at that thick embroidery thread in pretty pale pink (you can also see some of my metallic thread hand quilting and note the difference). ย I like the french knots as well.
I had some questions in my first post about the order I should attempt putting this together. ย I went with pretty much the order I had thought I should.
On the quilt top, I did all the embroidery. ย Then I sandwiched the quilt with batting and batting and hand quilted. ย After that, I went and added all the trims like the buttons and the laces and the crochet fringe. ย Once done with that step, I squared my mini quilt up and binded it.
The fringe. ย It is pretty much my favorite part. ย Here is one you can purchase similar to mine.
This challenge was fun for me. ย I really enjoyed all the sitting still and quietly hand stitching. ย There are some prizes that can be won and I’m hoping to snag a mug. ย Maybe. ย We’ll see. ย There are many great entries. ย Regardless, I really like my little coy, French chicky on my wall, and if you didn’t notice, she likes pale colors just like me.
