Phoenix border

 This is the phoenix border that I am quilting on the silk quilt.  I am using a 100 wt silk thread from YLI and a 50 wt Gutterman cotton thread.

 Have you guessed how this is quilted?  The silk thread is in the bobbin and the cotton thread is on the top.  I free motion quilted the lines and the phoenix birds from the back of the quilt.  To prepare for this, I hand basted the edges of the quilt and used a red thread to baste around the hexagon middle.  The red thread helped me to define when to stop.  There were some instances when I continued the phoenix into the hexagon because I didn't want to just cut it off.  I have decided to hand quilt the inner hexagon.  After seeing Joan's beautiful hand quilting, I thought that would be the best way to quilt the beautiful silks.

This is the end of the bolt of cotton yukata that I used for the back of the quilt.  Yes, I think this is an indigo blue stencil.  There is a repeat that I haven't figured out.  I washed it and ironed it.  I don't know how old the fabric is, but the washing could not remove all of the brown spots.  Still, I thought it was better to use it than to let it sit for more years.  .Luckily, I had enough to cover the whole back of the quilt, since it was only 14 inches wide.  You'll see why I was so happy to choose this phoenix fabric when you see the next post.