An OPAM Finish and a New Start

Applique class with Mimi Deitrich last week was great. I learned a new way to thread a needle (I'll share that with you soon), and I learned needle turn applique without using templates.

Within a couple of days I had finished Block 1 of Quilt 1:

And then I started on Block 1 of Quilt 2, which I carry around in a plastic zip bag in my purse so I can take a stitch or two when I have a free five minutes. My plan is to use 4 papercut blocks in each of the quilts, so why not knock the 8 of them out sooner rather than later.

At some point I need to get back to Aunt Mimi's Garden. Fortunately I've only got 4 blocks total to do for this project, and this is block 2:

I'm using cotton thread on Aunt Millie, and silk thread on the Baltimore blocks....and guess which one disappears into the fabric so well that you need a magnifying glass to see the stitching?  (hint:  it's the silk).
I'm sure the hand sewing novelty will wear off shortly and I'll be back on the machine working on the Drunkard's Path with a New Twist, but for now, I'm in applique mode.

Which is not easy as I took a nasty chunk out of my right index finger while making margaritas for the ladies at Friday night's Happy Night. I was using the Ninja blender thiingie and managed to gash myself on the triple blade core as I was putting it in the dishwasher. I should have probably gone to the hospital for stitches, but I didn't want to be a buzz kill, so I just ran some water on it, applied some pressure  and put a bandage on it. I'm sure I'm likely going to start regretting that decision in another day or two--especially if it turns out that I can't hold the needle to stitch. Oooh....bummer!

Hopefully I'll be able to make some applique progress before the next class. If not, there's a thousand pounds of quilting books from our Guild Library in my basement that need to be inventoried before our next meeting in August, so I can always get started on that task.

And somewhere in there, I'll manage to blog. Next time I'll share Needle Threading 102 with you. Until then, be creative, have fun, and enjoy your week!