In the Middle

I'm happily sewing again this week, working on a Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt from 2018.

Do you see one of my purple blocks from last year?  These were really fun to make.  The blocks are set so that a large plain space occurs where four blocks come together.  I knew I wanted a stencil quilted into that spot.
As a rule, I quilt my own quilts on my Pfaff Select machine (yes, electric, even though the quilts are pieced on a treadle).  In order to quilt something this large, I pieced it in two sections.  This made it possible to quilt the stencil design without screaming my head off.  (We wouldn't want to alarm the neighbors.)

I've always loved the graceful shapes of leaves, so I chose my stencil for this kind of look.

Here's a quick tutorial on how to use a stencil with Golden Threads paper.

You need the stencil, a PERMANENT INK pen, and the paper.  (Do not use anything but permanent ink.  Otherwise, the marks will transfer to the quilt, which defeats the purpose of using the paper.)

Trace the stencil onto the paper.  Note here, the paper comes in several sizes.  I find the 12 in. size the most useful and least wasteful.

Place the stencil on the quilt, and pin.  I use safety pins so I won't be constantly stabbing myself with straight pins.  (Just respecting the peace and quiet of the neighborhood.)  You can see through the paper, which helps in positioning the stencil.
The next step is quilting through the paper.  It really helps to trace the lines with your fingertip before starting, so you can plan where to start and stop.  This design is continuous, at least for the larger leaves, but I quilted each set of smaller leaves separately.
Lastly, tear off the paper.  The quilting will be done, and there will be no marking lines on the quilt.

I used a thread that matches the area to be quilted.  At a distance, the shapes stand out (but not the thread).

In the half blocks at the sides of the quilt, I quilted half the motif.

Two corners ended up like this.  I used one section of the stencil to quilt them.

It's taken quite a while to get this far, but each of the two sections is now quilted, and I have joined the sections, by machine on the top and by hand on the back.

Now what?  I have to quilt the middle!  This will be harder, as I will have the whole bulk of the quilt to maneuver.  If it's too tough, I might hand quilt the stencil motifs.

In other news, we went to a book sale at the West Bend library on Thursday.

Little Buddy didn't want to leave!

Under our feet was this colorful rug.  Isn't it great?  I wish I had fabric like this!

Have a wonderful week!  Can you believe October starts on Tuesday?
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Alycia at Alycia Quilts:  Finished or Not Friday
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Oh Scrap