REALM - it's finally finished.
I would like to introduce to you, Realm. This quilt is epic!! It has been a project in the works for a very long time. The project itself has been finished for a while, but writing a book and self-publishing takes time.
This quilt took a while to piece, mostly because of all the on-point squares in the Realm blocks. It was fun though and I had a great time building these individual blocks. The ombre fabric by V and Co. was perfect for this quilt. I love the look of the cool and warm colored blocks.
The quilt was stitched entirely with a 60wt cream thread and magna glide bobbins. I enjoy stitching with one color because I love to showcase the quilting. This also creates an incredible canvas for the plain square blocks. Most of these square block quilted designs are included in the book.
This quilt is free-motion and ruler work quilted on my A1 longarm quilting machine. No computers were involved in the making of this quilt, lol.
I believe the best part of quilting is enjoying the texture of the quilt. When I quilt densely like this I use two layers of batting. It doesn't matter what high quality cotton (cotton/poly) batting you use, as long as there are two layers, you will have these same results.
Is the quilt heavier, yes, but it isn't that much heavier and I think the quilt is more stable when it has the two layers and the thread tension seems to work better for me with the two layers of batting.
I think the greatest part in quilting Realm is the star theme. I love being able to add secondary designs to my quilting, especially when it pairs nicely with the piecing design of the quilt. The background fabric is my play area and I really love how the stars turned out in these blocks. All of these star designs are included in the book as well.
I have a very special lady who helps me with the digital drawings of my books, and I am so grateful for her. Thank you Lynda!
This time around I wanted to learn how to do the layout myself. My books: Creative Chaos and Serenity were laid out and designed by me in Adobe Illustrator, but then sent to Lynda to do the final layout in inDesign. This time around I bought the inDesign program and was determined to do the final layout.
I was so excited to learn inDesign, that I sent off the file to the printer and it came back with the print blocks in each fold of the book. Whoops! I only had them print off 4 books, the minimum, to make sure I didn't mess up - I clearly needed something else to learn.
So, back to the drawing board. This is why it has taken me a bit longer to get the book finished. I really have a very small team, mostly me, that write patterns and books. I have two gals who read over my patterns, but the writing and layout are me. Thankfully the gal at the printer gave me a call and walked me through inDesign and the settings that I had wrong and we fixed the issues with the layout of the book. I understand one more thing and my skillset for another Adobe program is getting better. The book is at the printer and will arrive to me by the end of this week. I thank you for your patience with me, especially all of you who have pre-ordered the book.
I took the quilt out yesterday to get some shots in the sun with the book. I really love this quilt so much. The book is so beautiful as well. The digital drawings as well as the photos will really help you make your own version of Realm.
This border! It was so fun to quilt up. I love how the sun captures the dimension of the quilting. I used my QuickMarkRuler, QuickMarkCurve, and my A1 ruler to draw out and stitch the designs. I use a purple air soluble marker for the markings, it easily comes out with water, or in high humidity, it disappears quickly. I live in the desert, so the air soluble marker is perfect for me.
The time and effort it takes to make a quilt like this is very rewarding. I'm hoping that you will enjoy the process as much as I did. The book is available now in paper as well as PDF versions for those of you who are out of the US and don't want to pay shipping.
Happy Quilting!
