WIP Wednesday

So nice to finally be able to share a WIP! I'm working on a piece in green Oakshott cottons (leftovers from this cushion).  I should be working on the Aviary quilt I'm making for Siblings Together, but got distracted by the Pantone Emerald Quilt Challenge on Flickr.  Despite the horrible time I had with my sewing machine yesterday it's coming on and I'm auditioning threads for quilting.

The piece is supposed to represent a cut emerald in a clasp setting:
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The layout above was my intended one but I was distracted by my love of dog-tooth stars.  Is it a square stone, or a round one?

Anyway, I was trying to use the subtle difference between the two palest colours and play with the direction of the grain of the Oakshott to suggest light on the facets.

You can see the effect a bit better in this pic. The central square is cut from one fabric, but the triangles reflect the light differently.  Oakshott is extraordinary and looks different all the time.  Sometimes the greens look much closer to the very bright green thread but they are difficult to catch in a photo.

 I'm bordering it in plain linen because I like the idea that it could also be a rough emerald still to be cut from the rock.

Above are the threads I'm thinking of using.  On the subject of thread, I have so far done all my piecing with Gutermann thread, as that is what's available in my local store, so I will have to try Aurifil some time to see if there is a difference.  One thing you really have to admire about Aurifil is that the way they have the social networking thing sewn up, so to speak!  A year or so ago, it hadn't really occurred to me that there was any variety of sewing thread - duh! - until I wrote to Leanne to ask about some she had used.  I so appreciate the helpfulness of the blogging community.

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