Finished Geese and Progress

As the Flying Geese top came together I got more and more excited to finish it. I'm so happy with the results of this one. I almost put it aside after I assembed the 4 sets of two rows and realized that with my configuration for the top that two of them were not facing properly for the geese to alternate pointing up and down. I hate having to rip any amount of seams, but ripping seams with paper piecing is even more tedious as I have to be very careful not to destroy the paper foundation in the process. Thankfully it didn't take nearly as long as anticipated and soon I was on my way again. I'm so thrilled with this top that it may be the next one in the hoop!

My other big project of the moment is the applique on the sashing between the posy blocks. The top went together pretty quickly, and marking the sashing didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. It was a little tricky as, rather than marking the braid from end to end going one direction and from sashing to sashing going the other, I decided I wanted the braids to "weave" where they met and alternate going over and under. I was able to keep my focus in spite of the stops and starts and had everything going the right way when I finished.

As I marked, I had what I thought was a horrible realization. The plan was to pick one of the "strands" of the braid and follow it all the way down until it's stopping point. Except if I did that, the bias tape would show in spots that it should be behind the design. This was going to have to be appliqued in small little pieces to get the desired effect.

I nearly didn't start the applique that day because I was really daunted by that, but decided to forge ahead and see what I'd gotten myself into.

I have to be very careful, as the order of applique is very important so that edges are secured under the proper pieces. I stared at it for quite a while, working out the logistics of it. The first completed section (shown further below) I cut and placed one piece at a time, but by the end of that section I was feeling more confident and this next section I'm pinning in place several pieces at a time, which is cutting down on the time it takes considerably. I don't want to do too many at once as it's hard to maneuver around too many pins. This seems to be just the right amount.

The pieces for each section of braid can be placed in four sets. Only one side gets sewn down and the second side isn't sewn until all the pieces for the whole section are in place. Here it is with the second set in place and ready to sew.

When all the pieces for all four sections are sewn on one side, then I pin everything in place and sew down all the second sides. While I do love the whole process, this part is especially enjoyable because I can just sew, the thinking has already been done.... at least until the next section!

And finally a picture with posies visible so you can get an idea what it will look like.

I'm babysitting this afternoon so there won't be much sewing time. I haven't decided if I'll be hand quilting or appliquing tonight, I'll have to see what I feel like then.

Tomorrow we're doing the grind from the deer hunt, which will take several hours but will leave me with quite a stack of packages of ground meat in my freezer. I'll be babysitting again in the afternoon. Wednesday will probably be my "free" day, though I will grocery shop, if possible, in the morning.

It's more likely I'll be shopping Thursday morning and babysitting all afternoon again. Friday is my quilting bee, and afterwards I need to do the prepwork on potstickers. The Super Bowl has always been a big event in our house and I'll be cooking all day Saturday for it so there won't be so much to do on Sunday except for the final cooking. It will be a busy week! I'm hoping that next week will be a little less full and I'll get to spend some good time on both the braid applique and the hand quilting on the ring flower quilt.

Happy Quilting!

Sue