Pizza Pan, Plastic Wrap, and Lessons Learned

Quilting this "Snowflake Medallion" quilt has captured most of my time these days. With the Iowa State Fair deadline looming, I'm determined to put in the necessary hours to quilt this design in the way it deserves. It hasn't been easy.

I've continued to use Golden Threads paper to draw quilting designs, stitch them without thread, and use the pattern to free-motion quilt.

 It's been coming along nicely.

Since I've been working across the quilt, starting at one side and quilting toward the middle, I knew that quilting the center medallion would be the most challenging part. 

I decided I wanted to quilt a feather circle. To get the 16" diameter circle I needed as a template, I raided the kitchen for this pizza pan. 

Then, somewhat like cutting out paper snowflakes, I folded freezer paper so I could give the circle a scalloped edge. Here it's pinned to the center motif so I could check that it fit.

I quilted around the motif.

Then, by eye, I echo quilted about 3/8" from the first quilting.

Next, I designed feathers to flow clockwise along the interior of the scalloped edge. My plan worked, though I didn't expect to prick my finger on one of those super-sharp flower-head pins! Thankfully, the blood - which headed right under the quilting thread! - came out easily with cold water.

So far, so good.

After reading a friend's blog post, I was reminded that this product can be used as a template for a quilting design.

 

With a fine line green Sharpie, I drew the feather motif to flow clockwise around the exterior of the scalloped circle.  Then I patted the plastic wrap to the quilt. It sticks good... but that's where the fun ends.

DO NOT USE THIS PLASTIC WRAP FOR FREE MOTION QUILTING. 

After quilting along the green Sharpie lines, the plastic wrap needs to be pulled off. And boy, does it stick, and catch under the quilting stitches... particularly those that have been stitched over more than once. It was awful to try to remove! Do not use "Press and Seal" for free motion quilting! I may have thought it was difficult to remove Golden Threads paper from under quilting stitches, but this stuff makes difficult seem easy!

I won't tell you about the tears - my own! - and problems I had trying to get the plastic wrap, and the green marker color out. I ended up completely un-quilting that section - thankfully, I'd quilted only the first quadrant - and starting over again with Golden Threads paper. Ahh. Much better.

In low light, with shadows falling across the medallion. . .

. . . I'm really liking how this is turning out.

The quilting is now officially more than halfway complete. Since I'm working across the medallion-style quilt, the rest of the quilting is a repeat of what I quilted on the opposite side. Good progress. Yay! Linda