Stressful Sewing

I have spent the last month working on an ark curtain for a synagogue.  When people ask you how long it takes to make a quilt, it is not a simple question to answer.  First I spent a week coming up with designs and doing my best to draw them on paper with colored pencils.  I have to say that my artistry with fabric far exceeds my drawing talent.  I warn clients from the get go.  Fortunately the people choosing the design were familiar with my work.  I made torah covers for them last year. You can see them here.

I spent a day in NYC in the garment district and came home with $300 of dupioni silk.  I love this silk.  It's got shimmer and it's got texture.  It is just plain gorgeous.

Then I spent 2 weeks deciding how I was going to construct this curtain that measures 60"Wx77"H.  I realized that it was so much easier to make colored pencil lines and not so easy to figure out how I was going to sew 1 1/2" strips of silk into radiating lines.  After a few false starts, I decided to construct it on a foundation of lightweight interfacing in 2 pieces that would be joined before quilting.

Then I spent 1 1/2 weeks constructing half the curtain.  I never perspired so much before during a quilting project, and it wasn't because the A/C was broken.  I was sweating because I was so worried and nervous.  Choosing lightweight interfacing as a foundation was not a good choice.  It stretched and distorted as I added the strips. I couldn't see the faint lines I drew as my pattern after I finished my first section.  And if you are wondering if you would ever use a protractor again after HS Geometry, guess what I used to draw my rays?  You can actually download one from the internet.

So I am not going to sugarcoat this.  I finished the left side and it will need serious blocking and squaring up.  This is what it looks like now.

Am I looking forward to making the right side?  Hell no!  Mirror image?  I don't think so.  But I will try my best.  I will keep you posted.