Tiny pieces and freezer paper

     On Friday, May 20th,  I took a workshop with Ann Shaw who teaches the Ruth McDowell method of piecing small things, not appliqueing them. I was interested in this because I want to make large landscape quilts without raw edges and fusible. I have Ruth's books, but needed some direct instruction, so I corralled 2 of my quilting buddies and we drove to Rochester, NY as Ruth was there because of the Genesee Valley Quilt Guild. The workshop was on piecing a chicken using freezer paper. It is really not paper piecing, but paper templates. It took all day to construct the chicken. When I got home, I did the background. I have 3 sections sewn together so I could figure out how to do it. We did not get to sew there or see it demonstrated. 
     Maybe I can use this to piece large landscapes. It is frustrating for having this idea in my head for over three years, yet unable how to figure out how to achieve large landscapes with no fusibles.

All the chicken pinned 

Chicken background

Head and top of tail sewn

Denim Lily started

    When I visited Quilting by the Lake Tour Day, I saw a class by Hollis Chatelain, where she sews denim to a multicolor back fabric, quilts it, and then cuts the lines between pieces revealing the multicolor. I asked her if she had a book or video on it, but said I had to buy the pattern. I hate making an existing art pattern, but I bought it because I love denim, multicolor hand dyes, free motion quilting, and landscapes. I read it a number of times, but still am not real clear. I drew my own pattern from one of my photographs, bought some jeans at Amvets, washed and cut them up, and started. After I drew the pattern, I had to trace it in reverse and number the pieces. Then I had to trace it on freezer paper. I made sure instead of using just one color line, I drew hash lines in multiple colors to make sure I could  line up all the pieces. Thanks to a class with Pat Pauly, I was able to know to do that.
   Once the pieces were ironed to freezer paper and cut out, I had to zig zag them together side by side with invisible thread. Then all the pieces had to be zig zagged together. I used my wonderful Singer 401. The next part was awful. I had to take out the paper which of course was sewn in. In the process, a lot of the seams came apart. I would have to do that differently somehow next time. Then, I layered the denim, the multicolor hand dye, the batting and the backing together. She wrote not to spray baste, but I have no fingernails these days and could not do safety pins. So I spray basted. I thought I need to stabilize the piece, so I sewed straight stitch with invisible thread on top, Bottom Line on the bobbin around every edge at least 1/8" away from the raw zig zag edge to every piece. Now, I started to add the quilting lines and realize that I do not have enough colors, so I had to agonize deciding and place an order for some Isacord. I am waiting for the thread to continue. The pictures are my steps up to where I basted it all together. I will take some other pictures as I resume. By then, I will have calmed down from ripping paper and trying to understand the directions.

The Drawing

Reversed drawing with numbers

Pieces cut out and some sewed

Partly assembled

Sections together

Denim together pre-ripping paper

Big leaf sewn

Although I have never sewn using freezer paper templates, I pushed through and sewed the whole Big leaf from the Pat Pauly workshop. The finished size will be 24 x 24, but it is a lot larger now until I crop it. I cropped it for the photo. I am ambivalent about it. I think quilting it will make me like it more. Have to find a backing.

Big Leaf sewn and cropped by camera

A fine mess

  Over the weekend, I went to the Genesee Valley Quilt Show (gvqc.org) in Rochester, NY. One day I went with some of my guild friends to look at about 600 quilts and vendors, and another day to take a class with Pat Pauly (patpauly.com) called the Big Leaf. It was a draining day to make all kinds of color decisions and lay out the design. We used freezer paper templates. I had to take it all apart to go home and when I got home, I immediately put it on my design wall so I would not get real lost. This picture is the mess of the design before sewing together. When I get some sewed, I will post it again.

Batik pieces over freezer paper sections