So many pins... oh my!

The next step towards getting this quilt done is sewing down the swan and ballerina.

First, I have to figure out exactly where they are going to go on the background and make sure they look straight.

Then, I pin them down.  I used to baste everything down at this step and it took forever and wore my fingers out.  Now,  I just use a lot of pins and I am able to accomplish the same thing.  

I also used to pull all the stabilizer out and I don't do that anymore - except where there is a fairly large piece of it.  When I do the thread painting over it I have found that having the stabilizer in there helps make the thread go down better, so I just leave it in.  It's not like anyone is going to be sleeping under them anyhow.   When I make them for a bed, I do pull the stabilizer out, but I seldom make bed sized quilts anymore.

I must have cussed at least a dozen times when sewing down the swan and ballerina as I kept poking myself with all the pins.  No pain, no gain, right? What's quilting without a little blood anyhow?

With that step done, I'm off to do the thread work on the wings and tutu!  

Until tomorrow!