Circling the Sun--post 1 of 3

In my Finish A Long list for this quarter was this little wall hanging. My friend, Pat, walked me through the steps of insetting a circle into a piece of fabric. I inset a couple circles and I also sliced and added some smaller strips. It was a fun three hours of play that I did more than a year ago!

Piece in my Finish A Long for the quarter

I thought that this could be my quilt for the book our group had read about Beryl Markham who was a horse trainer, pilot and writer from Africa.  She wrote "West With the Night." Our group read "Circling the Sun," written by Paula McClain. "Circling the Sun," is a novel based from Paula's research about Beryl. I enjoyed reading both books.

Adding appliqué circles and borders to the design

When I put the project on the Finish A-Long (FAL) list, I thought it was ready for a back and quilting. Then, the piece started talking to me. It wanted to be bigger. (It measured 18 inches wide x 22 inches high.) In a Joen Wolfrom workshop last fall, she talked about shapes that were pleasing to the eye. I decided that I would make this project as close as possible to a Fibonacci number--20 inches wide  x 32 1/2 inches high.

Adding the facing before quilting

I scrounged through my fat quarter stash and located a second fat quarter of the background. I also picked out a coordinating fat quarter that would work as a border. I stitched more background to the piece and added a border.

It wanted more circles. A little circle fabric remained so I traced some circles, stitched a gathering thread around the outer edge, pulled it up, used some starch and pressed it into a circle around a template. After it cooled, I auditioned it on the top. I used Karen Kay Buckley's perfect circle product and her technique.

Although I warped a few of the templates, the technique worked well for me. I liked what I saw. I made more. I played a little more with the arrangement and next, I hand appliquéd the shapes to the background.

Chunks to be used in the pieced back.

After I had completed the appliqué, I looked again at available fabric chunks from my stash for the back. I selected a piece that I stitched as a second border for the top. If you think this is a crazy addition and wonder what was I thinking, let me explain.

I plan to turn this section into a facing after I have finished quilting. This is an idea that I have been thinking about for sometime. Since I haven't actually done it, I have no idea if it will work or not. I may end up cutting off that border; but, for now, it is staying! In my head, I think a quilted facing will be unique and interesting looking finish.

Pieced back

This was the pile of fabrics that I had selected for the back. These were just chunks from other projects or leftovers from the front. The chunk drawer that these were living in was over flowing. Using the pieces makes more room!

I laid out the pieces and then begin to stitch the small ones together, making a larger section. I kept going until I had several units that I could stitch together. I also place the smaller pieced sections in the middle of the back so that during the trimming phase I don't loose some of the piecing. It took me about four hours to piece the back and to stitch that second border on the top.

Leftover bits

I did save enough of the background fabric for the sleeve. I like the interest a pieced back adds to a project. I love using up the bits. When I finished, few scraps remained. Some of these might make their way into the label. Yes, there will be some chunks/strips left after quilting. Still it feels great to use the bits into a useable back!

The next step is to sandwich the top to the back with a piece of batting in between and to quilt the project. My plan is to quilt with cotton thread; to use the same color on top and in the bobbin and to not quilt as densely as I often quilt. I will stitch in the ditch first so that the piece is anchored enough for play time er stitching time!

Now an announcement er update regarding Miss J's artist smock. It won a blue ribbon at the country fair AND she won the prize for being the youngest exhibitor. Her prize winnings were $15. Hm m m. . . .I wonder how she will spend her winnings? If you missed that post, you can read it here.

Since this is the end of the month, I'm entering in my teaching statistics for May.
I trained 36 students in Basic Life Support CPR (YTD 131) and 10 students in Red Cross Babysitter's Training. YTD, I've taught a total of 228 people!