The machine is away on holiday….

 My machine went away for a much needed service and tuneup. So while I wait for it to come back I’ve been cleaning my sewing room. I’ve also started to take the buildings off of the Boston quilt to make sure all the pieces for windows, trim, and other details are in the correct place. Then I’m ironing the pieces in place. I’m still worried that things will lift off as I stitch the buildings to the backing fabric so I’m trying to decide how to deal with stitching the pieces in place. Usually I iron the pieces to the backing fabric and then zigzag everything with invisible thread. However, my quilts are usually smaller than this and pieces do tend to lift up even then. So on something this big I’m concerned that things will start to fall off as I manipulate the top. So I need to figure out a solution.

I see several options. 

I can use pins to tack the pieces that could fall off in place. Sometimes, however, it’s difficult to get a pin through fabric with fusible on it especially if there are several layers of fusible.

Another option would be to stitch all the windows and trim in place before attaching the buildings to the quilt top. Normally I back the top with totally stable, but that could be hard to remove if the fusible on the back of the building comes on contact with it. So maybe I would have to use parchment paper to stabilize the building. I stabilize so when zigzagging it doesn’t bunch up which they call tunneling. If that didn’t happen this whole process would be easier. Removing the stabilizer is usually a pain in the butt. This method would have the advantage that working with each building individually would be easier for turning while stitching the pieces in place. 

I’ve thought about machine basting the pieces that might lift off and then removing the basting as I zigzag the pieces in place. 

Or add some glue baste to the pieces that could lift off. 

I will have to figure this out. Here’s the Boston quilt before I started to take the buildings off. 

I submitted the recycle piece I talked about in the last blog. I decided to go with the title my husband suggested. So it’s called “Dad Built Pittsburgh.” I had to submit a description with it. This is what I submitted: My dad designed thousands of houses and commercial buildings in the Pittsburgh area. He loved his work which was obvious as we drove around Pittsburgh and he would proudly point out the ones that he designed. I’ve recycled one of his drafting vellums in this piece.  I wanted his design work to show through so I’ve used transparent paints and kept both my machine and hand stitching fairly simple. I dedicate it to my dad. 

I submitted my course that I want to teach this fall on making an architectural quilt. So that’s something else I accomplished this week. 

So now to figure out how to deal with the Boston quilt!

Thanks for reading.

Chris