Week in Review 2017 - 03/31

Picking Up the Pieces #3 
is ready to quilt. If you look
closely (right click on image
for an enlarged version) you
can see the novelty bee fabric
I used as part of the backing.
It is peeking out from the sides.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I read once that people tend to underestimate the time it takes to do something they enjoy, while overestimating the time it takes to do something they find difficult or tedious. This doesn't seem to be the case for me with the different phases of creating a quilt. No matter how many times I baste a quilt, no matter what method I use (hand stitch, pin baste, or fuse) the time to do so is always longer than I expect and it is one of my least favorite parts of quilting. Perhaps this is due to my eagerness to get to the quilting. 

I spent a good deal of this week's studio time going from completed quilt top to basted quilt. Actually, I basted two quilts, because I needed a quilt sandwich to practice ideas for how to quilt Picking Up the Pieces #3. Since this was for practice and experimentation only, I opted to piece together my batting from "small" pieces I save just for this purpose. Of course, it takes time to piece the batting. I also pieced the backing for Picking Up the Pieces #3, since I have a fabulous novelty print fabric which has been in my stash for several decades which is almost a mini, more neutral toned version of the front of my quilt, complete with rounded hives, honeycomb background and bees. And so it goes. Each simple project somehow morphs into something more complex. Nevertheless work was accomplished as you can see:

Why a rainbow bee? The answer
should be revealed once the
banner is in place.

1) Work on  Picking Up the Pieces #2 and/or #3 - Done

I had fun finishing up the satin stitch around the hive, the final two yellow and black bees, and then adding my rainbow bee in the doorway.

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1 - Not Yet

3) Pot(s) made this week - Done

I have been researching and doodling numerous free motion quilting motifs for Picking Up the Pieces #3.

4) Free motion quilting practice - Done

The free motion quilting motif I am thinking of using is an all over flame motif. I wanted to make sure I could work successfully around the hive and especially around the bees. 

Testing both the Golden Threads Quilting
Paper and potential motifs to suggest flames.

I took the time to experiment with Golden Threads Quilting Paper. This is a product I've been curious about for some time. The advice I read is it works best when the there are no narrow channels of paper between the quilting stitches to remove. Since I just wanted to layout a few bees on my quilt sandwich this seemed the perfect tool. It was very easy to remove after quilting. I was easily able to trace the bees onto the paper with a permanent black ink pen. I attached the paper with quilter's tape at the four corners and this was sufficient to hold it in place. 

Next week I will begin the quilting of Picking Up the Pieces #3. I may even manage to fuse the banner with text on the hive. I did figure out how to curve the text using WordArt in MS Word. The hold up is I want to be absolutely certain about what text to include. Should I get stuck, there is always something to turn my attention to as my next week's list can attest to:

1) Work on  Picking Up the Pieces #2 and/or #3

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1

3) Pot(s) made this week

4) Free motion quilting practice

I am now linking up to two blogs on Fridays. The first is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays and the second is Free Motion Mavericks.