Applique Continues

Another beautiful near end-of-summer morning to sit outside on the patio and stitch. The mornings tend to be more peaceful and quiet than later in the day.  Sewing in natural daylight (shaded) is easy on the eyes.

Finally working on the last border. This is one of the last flowers to be stitched down. Edges were prepared using the starch and template heat-resistent method plastic. I learned mostly from watching Erin Russek and Kaye Buckley on youtube. Personally, it is more relaxing to have edges pre-turned and all I have to do is stitch. 

In the hot afternoon, I will be indoors watching the Detroit Lions game. During slow plays and the many commercials I’ll be crocheting edges on fleece blankets for charitable donations and visiting others at Slow Sunday Stitching.

Happy Sewing!

Jill

More Quilt Show Photos and Applique

This post includes a few more photos from the August AQS quilt show held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hopefully, the quilt photos add interest to the repetitive applique progress on Midnight Stars. Hand applique is going slow, but steady!  This past week the remaining stems were appliqued down while sewing outside while enjoying the remaining, fleeting summer days. 

Since it's Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's, 

I will be adding flowers and leaves to the recent stems.

Border design by Nancy Rink

Below are only a few more quilt show photos should you be interested. They are in no particular order. Although not ribbon winners, they should have at minium received honorable mention.

The following Roaring Twenties wall hangings were particularly fun!

The outdoor plants are showing signs of summer's end. This is my Bombshell Hydrangea which its' blossoms became just too heavy for its branches. I call it Upside Down Hydrangea.

Happy Sewing!

Jill

Quilt Show Photos

 Bit by bit progress is being made on my long overdue UFO. Two appliqued borders are complete and were added to the flimsy. Today I am playing with the side borders, corners and appliquing more boring stems.

Last weekend I was fortunate to attend the AQS Show in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Lots of eye candy was on display. Here is a small portion of the quilts along with the quilter's name. Since this post will be linked with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts, the first two quilts pictured were exquisitely quilted by hand. If you are interested in seeing larger photos, I think you click on image it should open up full size.

by JoAnn Nichols

by Aki Sakai

Kim Stickney

by Kim Fong

by Ruth Rembis

by Joan E. Brink

by Janet Stone

If you had the time to view and made it this far, I hope you enjoyed despite the photos being taken with a phone which due not show their true beauty. Have a good week!

Jill

Two Quilt Projects

 Two quilts are being worked on. This is a finished block of the quilt which is being machine pieced. This is one of three completed blocks with 17 more to go. It’s a Shabby Fabrics pattern, Cherish. The block was tweaked as I have less points.

The aqua points are not as vivid in color as photo shows.

In order to get near-perfect star inner points, I resorted to foundation paper piecing. So much less stress.  

Hand applique continues with Kaffe Fassett fabrics. It’s a relaxing project to work on while joining Kathy and her friends on Slow Sunday Stitching.

A cool thing happened to Mr. Bliss this week. A sparrow landed on his shoulder. We have a batch of baby birds which are learning to fly so it is assumed this was a baby. Did the bird like the blue striped shirt or does it know who puts out the bird seed.

Photo taken from inside looking out.

An AQS Quilt Show is coming to Grands Rapid, Michigan in a few days. Looking forward to attending. 

Happy Sewing!

Jill

Flower Applique

Slow Stitching is happening during the today’s viewing of the Olympics. My favorite is watching the final round of golf which has been a nail biter to say the least. In the spirit of the Summer Olympics Kathy of Kathy’s Quilts, is graciously handing out medals. I’ll be happy to earn a bronze 🥉medal by adding centers to flowers

Using 30 wt Aurifil thread to applique

During this past week, I’ve been playing around with arrangement and color placemat.

Happy a good week!

Jill

Bright Flowers

Oh My Goodness 2024 is half over. Time to get out the list of stithing resolutions and pick up where I left off (wink).  An UFO has come out of the closet and is being revitatlized.  A floral design is being appliqued to the borders.  

For placement purposes, I'm using applique pins. Later today when I begin hand stitching, I'll try glue baste to hold the pieces in place. The centers of the large flowers have already been appliqued. It's been a good while since I've been able to join Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching so I'm happy to do so.

In May I put together a planter instead of buying a pre-made one from the nursery. I like the bright pink blossoms on this newer variety of geraniums (at least in my area) called Calliope Large Lavender Mega Splash. At the front and center is an annual which sells out quickly, Fiber Optics. I think it adds great interest to the planter without overpowering the other flowers.

Happy Canada Day and Happy 4th of July!

Jill

Binding and Rekindled UFO

Today I'm starting out with continuation of hand sewing quilt binding on the blue and white winding ways quilt. This photo shows the backing fabric. I try to find a coordinating fabric which gives more interest to the back.  The lighting was not ideal for this photo, yet you can see the nautical print and the walking foot stitches.

Can you spot the circular design created with square blocks. Photo is prior to quilting.

It's an old block pattern most commonly called 'Winding Ways'. Another name is 'Wheel of Mystery'. These blocks were created with the Chic Country ruler developed by Sew Kind of Wonderful. Trust me the points are far from perfect. It's the overall design that creates the circular motion.

While decluttering and downsizing this winter, I decided to rekindle a UFO. Admittedly, it's been put away too long. How long? Shall we say pre-Covid. Most likely I became stuck on what to do for a border (or none) as this is not my normal quilt style.  There are nine blocks made with the foundation paper method. What drew me to Kaffe Fassett's fabric was the vibrant colors.

When my eyes get tired of stitching the dark navy binding, I can take a break and remove the foundation papers from the back. A messy project.

While rekindling the UFO, a decision was made to add a 

floral applique border using the same Kaffe fabrics. Next decision is to machine or hand applique. The look of hand applique is the best.  Due to time limitations, machine applique may be quicker. 

Below is a beginner attempt at prepared-edge applique. Many videos were viewed as each 'pro' demonstrates their favorite method with a tweak here and there. What is working best for me is the freezer-paper starch method by Jill Finley on Fat Quarter's youtube channel. I'm using three sheets of freezer paper. She uses four. The difference is my tweak (wink).

Due to a lost hour of sleep (daylight savings time - spring forward clocks) I'll be extra Slow Sunday Stitching (and paper removing) with Kathy and her loyal friends.  

Happy Sewing!

Jill