For my next commission — a wall quilt featuring Noah’s Ark — I purchased some stormy, raining fabric.  It’s a beautiful silk chiffon, and I will double it to make the rain going in two directions, and to make the greys tend toward black.

I don’t often specifically buy fabric with a project in mind, but this time, I did.
I think it will take a needle nicely, even doubled, so I look forward to quilting this.  I will use the technique taught by Jude to secure the layers first — what she calls an ‘invisible baste’.  I have learned that securing the layers as an initial matter makes the difference between enjoying all subsequent hand stitching, and not.  I have an old plastic place mat from when the boys were little to put under the piece while I baste  — this prevents stitching the quilt to one’s skirt and helps steady the layers until they are secured with thread.
With hand-stitching in mind, I selected a high quality quilting cotton for the back.  Maybe it’s the heat.  Maybe it’s growing older (not wanting to stress already achy-thumbs).  Maybe it’s a growing appreciation for the ENERGY of a thing.  Whatever the reason, I find myself refusing to work with fabric that is icky in any way (I used to stockpile icky (free) fabric for the backs of quilts…).  Almost anything that I have purchased at JoAnn’s is going into my give-away bin.  The stuff they sell is crap.
What do you think of, visually, when you think of Noah’s Ark?  I think we tend to see the boat up on stilts, being built, or to imagine the procession of animals, marching two-by-two into the boat.  I decided to depict the middle of the storm – think:  Day 20 or 22 of the forty days and nights of rain.  No cute beasts marching up a plank.  No hopeful dove with a sprig of greenery in her beak.
Initially, I wanted to surround the ocean/boat scene with animal prints, but no matter how I laid them out, they looked dopey.  So I found a woven rectangle with watery colors, split it up and laid it out, and then wove another section to fill in the remaining areas.  I am stitching this newly woven section this afternoon, and will cut it up later.
I like how the woven sections add depth and complexity – very comparable to how certain spices or oils create depth of flavor in a stew.  These sections take a considerable amount of time, but they have a defined beginning, middle, and end, which keeps them from becoming oppressive.  And since I am planning this quilt out, no woven section will be laid on top of a section that is already three or four layers thick. Again, my goal is for the hand stitching to be easeful.
I will lay some of the sheer silk chiffon on the ocean fabrics, to create a feeling of light or foam.

My hope is to ‘whip this up’ in such a way that I feel good about what I can charge for it.  Price can never be the sole consideration, mind you, but it would be nice (for a change) if my aim to pursue an efficient design and construction actually panned out.