I finished my third piece for my ‘Salsa!’ quilt this evening:
“Onion” by Christina Fairley Erickson – Machine freehand embroidered, freemotion quilted and decorative stitching

Layers of batting for trapunto effect

I had a bit tougher time with getting the trapunto done well, so that the depth perception of the onions in back would be complemented.  So I did several layers of batting which I stitched together to help create this effect.

For the freemotion quilting background, I used “Stone Portals” from Leah Day’s FreeMotion Quilting Project.

I’m not sure that I got quite enough contrast in this piece, particularly for the background.  However, I think once all the pieces are put together, it should hold its own.  You can see the contrast issue, when I compare it with the other two pieces completed so far:

You might also be interested in:

Week 4 – Tomatillo 5 x 7 Week 3- The
 Start of Salsa!
52 Week – 5 x7 
Challenge to Readers

Other great blogs to check out:

Leah Day’s FreeMotion Quilting Project

Nina Marie Sayre’s Art Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

FreeMotion by the River

QuiltStory

Freshly Pieced

A Quilting Reader’s Garden

20 replies
  1. Foster
    Foster says:

    The contrast on the the back looks great when you see it with the other two. I wish I knew how to do the kind of fiber art that you do.

  2. Margaret
    Margaret says:

    I like your onion very much, and now that I see snaps of the other pieces in the series, I think it works very well with them. Both the onion and the background are 'warm' colours, which might be why you are wondering if there's enough contrast. You could make the onion more purple (which brings in more blue — cooler and complementary to the yellow) by either thread painting or touching up with a bit of fabric paint — either wet medium or dry, via InkTense pencils, a bit easier to control and then set with a damp, fine brush. Just a thought. You might want to test a sample first to be sure you're comfortable with it! 🙂

  3. MulticoloredPieces
    MulticoloredPieces says:

    Just stopped by from Nina Marie's blog and I'm delighted to have found your blog. I really like your series and the backgrounds that you have created. Beautiful.
    best from Tunisia,
    nadia

  4. Gwyned Trefethen
    Gwyned Trefethen says:

    You are too hard on yourself. I think the contrast on your onion piece is successful. However, if you want a bit more you could go back along the right side edge of the upper right onion with a darker thread to create the natural under shadow. I've been known to use ink to darken thread, too.

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