(WIP? Oh yeah, Work In Progress.)
I’m still piecing a quilt for my guild’s Storybook Quilts program. The name of the book is Go Away Dark Night and the quilt will match the illustration of a quilt on the cover. I completed 4 blocks just to make sure my pattern will work. The first three I did with freezer paper templates but the freezer paper didn’t work well for me. So I switched to paper piecing.
I use paper piecing a lot. It is a lot like putting a puzzle together; all of the pieces are there, they just have to be sewn together. And I like being able to sew very precise seams.
As I paper piece I usually use an assembly line process, that is, sew all of the pieces labeled A1 to all of the pieces labeled A2, sew A3 to A4, sew A1&2 to A3&4 and etc. This seems to be a very organized approach to piecing and it is efficient. There are just two things that I don’t like about this assembly line process. First off, there is no immediate gratification. None of the blocks come together until the very end when they all are finally finished. And secondly, if I happen to make a mistake 
I make the same mistake to all of the pieces if I don’t catch it quickly. That means a lot of ripping!
So, with Go Away Dark Night, I am in the early stages of my assembly line sewing. I have four blocks complete and one quarter of each of the remaining 20 blocks complete. I figure I have about 20 hours of piecing to go until the entire top is complete.
November 1, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Love the idea of recreating quilts from children’s books. Have fun with it!
November 1, 2006 at 2:08 pm
Deb, I think it’s wonderful that you describe how you work. I’ve only been quilting for a couple of years, don’t belong to a guild, and have no quilting friends except here in space. It is helpful–as well as interesting–to see how other quilters work. Which is the reason I watch “Simply Quilts” (when it’s not the umpteenth time I’ve seen the episode) and Fons & Porter’s show on PBS. If I didn’t know how to cook, I would want to watch a good one at work. Thanks!
November 1, 2006 at 2:20 pm
Great in-progress photo. I love seeing all those pfp segments lined up like toy soldiers.
November 1, 2006 at 11:52 pm
I enjoy your progress shots. I too love paper piecing. I’m down for the precision.
November 2, 2006 at 8:08 am
This will be beautiful. I personally hate paper piecing, not for the reasons you mention, but because I hate manipulating the fabric and the paper. But for some things like New York Beauty it’s a must, I admit.
November 3, 2006 at 12:44 am
Hmmmm, do you make one complete block first, to be sure the steps are right? That’s what I’d do…otherwise, for sure I’d make a mistake and replicate it through the whole lot! But you are no doubt a LOT more organized than I am. Gorgeous block, and the colors just jump. I love it.
November 3, 2006 at 8:36 am
I do alot of assembly line piecing too but I break my blocks into groups so I don’t have to wait for 20 or 30 to be done to see some kind of finished product. I generally make them in groups of 5 or 10 so I have smaller deadlines and meet them before charging on to the next group.
When I was making those 40 LeMoyne stars for my mom’s quilt, I made them in batches of 10 so I planned the day by 10 blocks and then I didn’t feel like they went on forever.