This past week has seen significant progress on the art quilt with the Japanese fabrics. I showed the base last week, and I have since completed the binding. I did it in the same black as the border, so it now is framed in double black with the pieced border between.

With the base binding in progress for hand work, I worked on the two circles on the machines. The larger one was loaded on the longarm with black batting. The backing is muslin, as it will not be seen.

Quilting is echo free hand around the motifs in the print, with black thread top and bobbin.

This didn’t take long at all.

When finished, the back shows the quilting a bit better.

In the larger sections behind the crane and the flowers, I’m adding stuffing for a trapunto detail. I cut a little slit in the muslin and stuff the space softly.

Stuffing the longer sections was easier with tweezers.

Here we are, almost done with the stuffing part.

To hold the stuffing in place, I whipped the slits closed by hand.

Next, I moved the piece to the den for the handwork, and began adding seed beads to the flowers to give the piece a bit of sparkle.

Some of the flowers got heavily beaded while others have just a few in the center.

Next was to complete the embroidered crane piece. I put it on the longarm and did stipple quilting around the embroidery.

I chalked a circle around the crane to give me a precise sewing line. I’m not going to stuff the crane on this piece, as the embroidery already gives it a bit of a raised appearance with the stipple quilting.

Putting a piece of white backing right sides together with the piece, I sewed on the yellow line.

Then, the edge is clipped to allow the bulk to distribute and flatten.

Cut a slit in the center of the backing, and turn the piece right side out. I know some of you will use fusible interfacing for this, but I wanted to be able to press a hard crease on the edge, and manipulate it to a smooth circle. Even with a teflon pressing sheet, it just doesn’t work as well with a fusible as the turning fabric. I added three seed beads in purple to the base of the neck of the crane. Now, this part is now ready to sew onto the base.

While I worked on the longarm, the embroidery machine sewed the label. I found this perfect crane motif for the back, and arranged it with the lettering. I matched the purple threads to the print on the front. It is stitched onto a white tone on tone fabric with Sulky rayon embroidery thread and fusible cut-away stabilizer.

The name Yugana Tsuru means Graceful Crane. Now I am working on finishing the beading, and then I’ll applique the black circle to the base. Finally, the white circle will be placed on top and hand appliqued. I’ll also get the label stitched on the back. Then I need to add a hanging sleeve for show, and it will be done.

Now that football season has started, I got more handwork done with the Hall of Fame Game and Enshrinement ceremony this past weekend. With preseason games starting on Thursday, I expect to finish this piece in a few days, well in advance of my Labor Day deadline. Thank goodness!