Quilting and Cording

When quilting my latest piece I decided to mimic the swirls/curves in the background.

In addition to machine quilting, I also added some hand stitching around several of the curved shapes.

My main reason for doing so was to add contrast to the white curves in the light areas. I intended to stitch around all the curved shapes, but the effect was so subtle I changed my mind and used it only in the lightest areas.

Next, I turned my attention to the main motif.  I thought it needed to be set off from the background somewhat.  I considered:
– Lightening the background around the motif with colored pencils, chalk, etc.
– Using tulle to add a dark shadow around parts of the motif.
– Adding a dark line around the motif, by adding cording.

I was leaning toward the cording idea, since I had used it previously. I did some auditioning and started in.  I hand stitched a black cord in place.  That is, I used a cording stitch to capture the cord and secure it to the top of the quilt.  I did not pierce the fabric with the cord.

Here you can see the effect before and after the cording.

I think it set it off perfectly.

And here’s the entire quilt, ready for facing.  Almost finished!

Have you got any suggestions for a name?  I’ve got one in mind, but am still slightly undecided.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Here’s what a hard/precise tulle shadow looks like.  It’s very effective in adding definition, but only if you want to show the top element just slightly above the background.  I wanted this motif to float, so it wasn’t appropriate here.