I do spend some time quilting every week but my progress is slow and I do not want to keep showing pictures of fabric under my sewing machine. But I actually got some great pictures to share. A couple of weeks ago my guild hosted a workshop with Dora Carey of Orange Dot Quilts and we started Arabesque. My first of many starts coming up.

This is a paper piece project and I’ve done paper piecing before so I was familiar with the process. Her method is a little different than the methods I have done before but it’s not significantly different. The only thing I found difficult was the big strips of fabric and managing all the excess around the part needed. I also accidentally sewed paper from further down the strip on the back of the part I was sewing. Three times!!! Rather than rip I tore the paper off. And then taped the paper where I tore so I could still use it.

During the workshop we worked on a section at a time and we used a lot of fabric. The strips were as big as the widest part and as you move towards the end it gets much smaller. I was wasting a lot of fabric. At home, I work on multiple sections so I can group steps together. I also have two strips for each fabric. One strip is the widest part and the second strip is about half that. That way I can use the wide strip for the wide section and the narrower strip in the smaller parts. I feel like I’m using the fabric more efficiently.

The quilt has 16 pieces and I finished 2 in the workshop. I have 6 pieces that I haven’t started. That means I have 8 sections all in process. A handful look like the one pictured above where I’m almost done. I am about halfway done on a few more. And I’ve got a couple that I have just started.

I’m enjoying this project.

Happy quilting

Melanie