If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Applique Day

If you're a regular reader, you know I'm a flitter. I flit from project to project, most of which I finish, except for the applique blocks which always tend to be part of a much larger undertaking that I've not set any goals for. (So wrong)

Like this Fiesta (not KKB's Fiesta, but Fat Cat Pattern's Fiesta) block that I started...a foray into fusible/machine applique that never made it past the first block. I couldn't decide on a machine stitch...the one on the center flower wasn't enough, the one on the motif to the right of it took a week to stitch out and I calculated that it would take me about 15.7 years to finish the quilt if I went with that one--which happened to be more of the look I was going for. I guess I'm just not wired for machine applique, so the box full of fabric sits in a corner, and the sole block hangs in the studio closet, in applique limbo (do I go with the heavy stitch, do I rip out all of those stitches and cut new pieces for the ones I need to restitch, or do I trash the entire block and reconfigure the pattern to include 1/4" all around and do this one needle-turn?).

Ah, but I digress.

I've still got that Karen Kay Buckley applique block that I took a workshop for.

 

 

It's my foray into applique with batiks...you know how there's always one person in your class/workshop who brings in the most beautiful batiks to use for their Baltimore album, and you're swearing about how your traditional-print fabric is fraying as you turn it under while they're ravel-free and sewing at twice your speed?  Yeah, that's what this was about. Of course I then learned that Karen appliques with the freezer paper under the fabric, which is probably the first method I learned (and it was miraculous that I came back for more after that). Not my favorite way to applique. Not to mention that I abhor the unnecessary 'surgery' of cutting my fabric to remove the freezer paper I've sewn inside. In trying to be true to the Buckley-style applique of the piece, and considering the fact that this winds up being an orphan block when done, it's easy to understand why this one is buried in an envelope in the closet.

 

We are one block away from a mini Aunt Millie's Garden. (Piece o' Cake Designs)

 

 

The fabric is so darn bright and cute, that we can't help ourselves from wanting to pull it out of it's little plastic bag and work on it now and again. This is usually our 'plane project', but we don't have any flights scheduled until November, and it would be a shame to let this sit for another 6 months, However, I am sewing it with DMC Broder cotton thread, instead of silk, which is more than enough reason to not want to stitch on this every day and finish it.

 

Last month, there was an opening in another guild's workshop with Barbara Burnham. Barbara is the woman who recreated and patterned the Baltimore Garden Quilt, which she published a book about.

 

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The block we took on in the workshop was Miss Parker's Pompom Dahlias

 

 

I love a good Baltimore-style class, and I've got to say I learned a whole lot more than I had bargained for in this one-day workshop.

 

I learned to use a piece of foamcore to tape your pattern and backing to, and then stick pin your pieces down as you  baste them to the background fabric (yes, I said 'baste').

 

 

And I was also reintroduced to appliquing with freezer paper on top. At first I had my negative 'been there/done that' thought, but once I started stitching that way--because I always follow what the instructor is teaching us, even if they say you can do whatever you're comfortable with--I was glad I did, because for now, it turns out I like to applique this way.

 

This entire quilt only uses 3 colors of fabric, so I swung by Jinny Beyer's studio and picked up a background, a red, a green and a yellow from one of her 'mottled solid' fabric lines to use on this block. I figured that if it turns out well and I like it, I can select a few more patterns from the book and run over to Jinny's for more fabric to make a small wall quilt. But for now, this one requires a bit more prep and sew time than I'm willing to put in at the moment, so it's also bagged and tagged for later. Maybe this will become the November plane project.

 

My newest distraction is a Christmas BOM designed by Erin Russek and posted intermittently on her blog.  It's called 'Jingle', and it's going to include 9 pieced blocks, 9 applique blocks, and a large center medallion. Here's her 'representation' thus far.

 

 

If you'd like to get in on this, here's a link to the Jingle info on Erin's blog:

http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-piece-at-a-time/jingle-bom/ 

 

I've finished two of the applique blocks so far, I'm working on the third

 

(Note that I'm using the freezer paper on top technique)

(Yes, I need a manicure--badly)

The center medallion has been 'kitted', and I've got a box set aside with some appropriate fabrics and the pieced patterns. This one is high priority. Once I finish that small applique block above, I need to crank out the 3 pieced blocks before Erin uploads the next applique block and I'll be caught up. Then I can focus on the center medallion. I WILL have a 2013 Christmas quilt finished in time to display the day after Thanksgiving. (We are exercising the power of positive thinking here).

I'm also working on some non-applique projects -- I told you I was flitting about. But those are for another post, as my head is spinning from being reacquainted with all of these WIP appliques I've got looming perilously close to being sucked into the block hole of unfinished projects.

What are you working on now, and are you struggling to keep your head above water or lounging on a pool noodle raft with a pina colada?

 

My Bags are Packed, I'm Ready to Go...

I spent a lot of time prepping and packing my applique bag for my upcoming workshop on Sunday with Karen Kay Buckley. Hours. No, days. I'm the Mary Poppins of the applique world, and this is my carpetbag. If you can use it for applique, it is in one of the pouches, pockets, sections of this bag......Thread Heaven? Check. More than 60 but less than 100 different applique needles? Check. 15 different fabric marking pencils and an 8-pack of Frixion markers? Check. You get the picture....I'd unpack it all for you to see, but then it would take me another couple of days to repack it, and I'd miss the workshop,  so you'll just have to trust me on this.

I've selected/obsessed for days over batiks as the fabric or this project, which is Block 3 from her Magical Medallions Quilt. Not exactly the block I'd choose, but it's a Guild workshop, so that decision was made for us.  Whatever. I just tell myself that it's not really about the block, it's about taking a workshop taught by Karen Kay Buckley. Basically, I could applique dead leaves to paper towels and I'd be just as enthusiastic.

If you follow me on Facebook you know that I've finally finished the last three (hand embroidered) blocks of the 2012 Aurifil Designer's Block a Month.

Here's a quick recap of the 12.  What's that you say? That October block sticks out like a sore thumb, eh? Yes, this is most definitely a case of 'one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch, girl'. (Thank you, Michael Jackson for the fact that I shall now be singing this little tune in my head for the next week)



Yes, the orange and black is totally seasonal, yes, it's cute, yes, it makes the block look great, but.....

It's gotta go. Rip, rip, rip, and it's gone from the finished pile to the unfinished pile. I'll satin stitch some new recognizable candy corns and go back through the Moda Sassy layer cake and pick some fabrics more in tune with the other blocks. And then we shall come up with a setting. After that, I have no idea what I'm going to do with this. It was just one of those 'fun to make' projects. Who knows, maybe I can finish it in time to hang in the quilt show next month (maniacal laughter ensues).

Speaking of fun projects, how about those  wool applique banners I'm still behind on. That's November...totally finished, on the left. And January needs a backing and an all around blanket stitch and it's done (This is testament to why you should always have some 'applique to go' projects packaged and ready to go....I finished up both of these in the Emergency Room on Sunday while attached to an IV antibiotic drip.) Anyways, I haven't laid a stitch to December, and March (the last one in my series) hasn't been cut yet. So, if you see me at the Sew Cherished booth at Lancaster this year, come smack me upside the head before I sign up for another year of these (and you know I will do that).

Since nearly having my life flash before me this weekend (actually, it was just an out of control dental infection), I have swung full speed ahead into applique mode. Today I prepped the last block of Aunt Millie's Patio Garden (Becky Goldsmith), and I've managed to complete 3 of the 4 blocks, over an equal number of years. Now, bear in mind that I began this project when I first learned that applique was more than blanket stitching the edges of fabric I'd fused down--sign me up!!  In fact, the first three blocks in this were done with freezer paper adhered to the wrong side of the fabric, 1/4" edges pressed in (and fingers burned) using spray starch sprayed into the cap and applied to the fabric with a paintbrush. (No wonder it took 3 years to make 3 blocks). Fortunately, having successfully completed a year-long workshop with Mimi Dietrich, has quieted that finger scorching Niagara Spray Starch madwoman inside me, and this last blockwill be strictly needleturn, with Perfect Circle berries. Should go a lot faster.

I've jumped ship on Vintage Rouge for the moment. Sewing that crease in the backing took the wind out of my sails. Yes, I slapped her back on the table and put a million freaking safety pins into her that will have to be painstakingly removed, which might explain my sudden lack of enthusiasm to finish her. But she's done enough to take a photo and a measurement to register for the Guild's annual show (forms are due next week), so no rush. Show turn-in is mid-April. She will likely be the only quilt I hang, but for some insane reason, I'm okay with that. ....... Oh doctor........