Ok this is what I did

Last night I wasn't sure what to do with the center of this block. I went to bed and thought about it in the middle of the night. I got up this morning and did some line drawings for my Husband to look at and he said it should be the flower that is on the pattern. I thought oh what the heck! So here is the pattern completed like the designers from Pieceocake designed. It was in a magazine from August of 1996. I like the shapes. It was done in oranges and yellows and dark greens and some purple.

It needs a little more pressing but it can wait until ready to assemble any quilt I come up with. I feared the needle turned instructions. I used freezer paper and hand basting to turn seam edge under. Well the center really scared me. It had so many peaks and valleys I chickened out and did a facing on the back of the gold and off white pieces. I then trimmed really close and stitched the right side edge with the hand stitching to pull any facing to the back and not show the facing. I guess any port in a storm. Hey it worked. Over all I think I like the look for a Turn of the Last Century House.

My sisters house is over 100 years old. She is painting the walls a chocolate brown with white trim so it should fit into her scheme of things. She was going to send me colors and I had picked these out and guess what sisters think alike I had the right colors picked out. Chris

Another one Done and ready to be wrapped

This is washed and ready to be wrapped. This is for my Mom's 83rd birthday. She has her Birthday on April 1st. So I am done ahead of schedule. She is having several in to play games so I will give it to her ahead of time. I used 80% cotton and 20% poly batt in it. I had to wash out the markings so it got wrinkled and puckery in the wash. The markings washed out with a regular amount of soap and cold water.

I think she will like it. She does machine work and not hand work anymore.

This is the center I placed on the top. I needed something to draw it all together. They are squares of the fabrics in the flowers and some of the border and the piping I used on the borders.

I will take pictures of it hanging when I take it into her. Chris

More UFO's

Ok I know more UFO's well I have plenty. This is called Lollipop Flowers. I think I have 12 of the 16 blocks done. I know just a few more. It is 30-40's prints and all done by hand applique. I love the look. I like the hand work, but I have minimal time to get much done. I would like to get to be able do machine applique with the blind stitch. I have tried and I guess I am not sure the look it what it should be. To much of a perfectionist when it comes to the stitching. I like the applique look and my list of to-do is very long. If I could perfect the technique by machine I could produce so many more. I think I have UFO's because I get bored with the time it takes.

This is a Cockscomb Star pattern. Of course the star isn't in the center yet because I got distracted and didn't finish this block. I think I have 8 of these finished out of 12.

As of yesterday I got volunteered for the birdhouse detail. I am painting them.
Jeff has Parkinson's disease and his hands don't always want to cooperate to paint. Today I am finishing up details on smaller birdhouses. The smaller they are the less wood details they have and more painting. I will take some pictures when I get a couple more done.

Back to the machine applique. I know practice practice, I think I will have to work harder and get less sleep around here. This next Spring or in a few weeks I going to mow three yards one of which is mine for extra money. Besides the gardening season starts. Oh My when will I get to sew. LOL Chris

Hand Applique Block

I guess I can do it. I did this one with a little frustration. I changed the centers on the flowers and also the size of the cherries. I think I am satisfied with it. Now onto the borders and the whole thing will be a table topper. I haven't done any hand applique for awhile so I contacted Erin Russek from One Piece at a Time blog. http://erinrussek.typepad.com/. I asked her what her preference was freezer paper shapes or the Templar plastic. She was kind enough to contact me back and said she prefers the Templar plastic templates. I enjoy the hand work and need to learn how to do the machine technique. I know the look and I can do it, but not sure I like the effect. I maybe am one of those that need hands on work to be satisfied. Of course practice makes perfect. Right?? This is a Pieceocake pattern from a magazine and I chose the colors to work with the room I am putting it in. Change things up to suit your tastes. Chris

He didn't care

Yesterday I told you about this pattern from Pieceocake. I said my husband would have a fit if I started something else. He said nothing. I asked him aren't you going to ask. He said why. Go figure! Here is the progress. As you can see the pins are in some of the motif yet. I think the red cherry shapes are to big for the design. I think I am going to modify the size a little and hopefully it will look more balanced. I forgot how much prep there is to get ready for this kind of quilting.

This is one quarter of the block. With most applique they make very large blocks. So it goes faster over all. I was going to use more red but this was calmer for where I want it to go. I will use more red in the border and the binding.

Today I plan on getting more of it done. After I reshape the dots or cherries I think I will be please with the look. On the left uncovered stem there is three more of the cherries and to me it is overpowering with the size they are. Then the next part is the quilting. Hand or machine echo quilting or outline. I think since it is a table topper I may do some hand embroidery to accent the leaves. I need to find my applique pins I know where they are so I am not getting my threads all tangled in the long quilting pins.
I rushed into doing this because I thought if this looked good I would make a couple more for Mother's Day presents. Chris