On Pens and Needles

Got the first baby quilt pin basted this morning (had to use painters' tape along one side because it was narrower than the pinning table) and decided to use one of my favorite patterns, the heart stipple.

It's a Full Line stencil that uses pouncing powder, but the light blue powder (I cut the blue powder with corn starch) didn't do a good job showing up on the light flannel fabrics. I basically ended up redrawing the whole design with purple chalk. It worked, but with twice the effort.

This stencil is the perfect size for these blocks. Two iterations of the pattern fill 3 blocks.

So I reasoned, if I was going to have to draw the pattern out anyway, why not eliminate all the chalk dust and draw it onto my favorite stencil medium: Glad Press'n Seal?

My tracery skilz really suck, due to poorer eye-hand coordination as I age, plus the nature of drawing on plastic film,

but since I know this is what's going to happen under the needle:

I really don't worry about being all that accurate. The lines are suggestions more than laws (there are no Quilt Police!)

I'm using King Tut "Cleopatra" on top and "Joseph's Coat" on the bottom (mainly because I already had a bobbin filled with that variegated thread). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Press'n Seal clings like a sumbitch to the flannel, so I'm going to spend the next hour prying it loose (see the large pin? Very valuable tool!) while The Loud and I listen to our favorite news program. The biggest challenge will be keeping our girl cat away from the bits--this stuff is like catnip to her!