The title of this post claims you’ll see wisteria, but in truth, I converted this task to a grapevine because I’ve never seen wisteria in person (though it is all over my dream house grounds!) but my gramma and grampa had a small vineyard. The premise is still the same: use an unconventional fiber as the main trunk and go from there.

I chose some twine, and only after the fact did I feel like I should have dyed it darker to stand out better against this fabric. Live and learn! I used a silver cord to replicate the wire that stabilized the grapevine. My gramma gave me a roll of starched fabric – I am not sure if it is meant to be binding or meant to be ties; it tears easily and she uses it all the time and I am sure it was used on the grapes so I cut little strips from it to tie up the grapes and tacked them down with a little stitch. Beads stand in as grape clusters, and I used the stumpwork wire technique for their leaves. I used some wire also for shaping some vines – a technique I wanted to try (probably inspired mostly by Salley Mavor) and I must say, it went so much faster than I expected it would! I stitched some leaves and vines to add more greenery (and it could probably use much more). It is all grounded by some rock beads and stitching (again, needs more). I think when I add more embellishments, the ground will come together more.

Because this motif takes over the whole block, I think I will have to place it centrally on the entire quilt. Time will tell – can’t wait to see it continue to develop! 😀