How to Quilt a Cornstalk, Part II

At the end of the first posting of "How to Quilt a Cornstalk" (which can be reviewed here), I promised detail shots of the leaves and ears when I finished. Here is the whole thing:

Here are some leaves and the top of one of the ears on the Rust-Tex cotton.

And here is the other ear. I used six different colors (three variegated) and three different kinds of threads -- all cotton.

I had a little trouble with the needle (not enough to warrant any bad words or gnashing of teeth, fortunately) on the Rust-Tex cotton. The needle made a popping sound -- like it does when you need to change it -- but I tried three different Topstitch 90/14 needles (the ones recommended by Superior Threads for this type of thread -- King Tut) and when they didn't work so well, I switched to a Schmetz Gold Titanium 90/14 embroidery needle. That still made the popping noise, so I switched to a Microtex sharp 80/12. That worked for a while, but when I switched from a thinner thread back to the King Tut thread, it made the King Tut fray and break. So I tried yet another Topstitch 90/14 and that one worked well enough to finish.

All the needles and threads worked just fine on the hand-dyed cotton, so the problem must be something to do with that particular piece of Rust-Tex cotton. The other piece of Rust-Tex cotton, which will be the snow portion of the picture, is soft and easy to quilt.

Next up: summer fields of green.