Catching up

I have missed two Sunday posts now.  I took a bad fall Thursday, April 10 when a cart I was pushing down the hall simply collapsed and I fell over it, face down.  It was the kind of cart that folds flat, and I pushed it over a threshold in my house, it folded flat with me on top.  It was  a painful fall, and for about 4 days I could barely walk or breathe, but remained confident that I had not broken any bones.  Fred finally convinced me to go to the hospital, and no broken bones, but I had sprained all my ribs and sternum and the muscle tissue around these bones were inflamed.  A true blessing that I did not break anything, and the doctors gave me some medicines that relieved the pain. 

So I lost about a week of sewing just lying around the house.  By the time I got better, Easter was upon us  and I needed to get a scavenger egg hunt together for the grandkids as well as getting groceries and cooking for Easter dinner.  My granddaughter, Tess, helped me get the groceries and egg hunt together and my daughter, Jennie, helped with the meal - so it all got done, and we had a blest Easter.

APIP#2 - During this time, I only worked on the Bloom and Sew project.  I completed four of the stitcheries for BOM Block #4 and have two left to go.  I hope to get all the stitcheries done today and get started putting the block together.

APIP #13 - Tulip & Rose Applique block.  I have the pattern for this block up on my design wall and stare at it a lot, trying to decide what fabrics I will use and how I will use the block.  I had decided to make a pillow out of it to go with my Meryton quilt (APIP #1) but I was befuddled if I really wanted to do this.  In the meantime I finished a block I had made to demonstrate how to use Bolar fusible to Stitchin' Friends.  I really like the sample I made with batiks and have decided to make the Tulip & Rose block with the same vibrant batik colors.  I have been wanting a tote bag to carry my projects in, and voila, I decided to do this.  I will be demonstrating to my guild's First Friday sewing group how to use Golden Thread paper for an applique underlay and I plan to use the Tulip & Rose as my example.  I already have the pattern traced onto the paper, so now to prepare the fabrics for applique.  Its so nice to finally have a plan!

This is the block I made to demo this technique to my quilt club. These are the vibrant colors I will use in my applique and I am thinking of using a black background.  I want the bag to have sides and a squared of bottom, but not too big.  Maybe just 3 inch sides made like the piano key border on the block and using some of the bolar fusible to make the sides. 

Here is the pattern pattern for the Tulip & Rose block, and behind it is the Golden Thread paper pattern I traced for the underlay.

We shall see, I have been know to change my mind, haha.

Rose and Tulip Block

 Well I am day late with this post, but honestly was so tired yesterday I took a long nap and then forgot to post. This past week I have been busy preparing a demo for my club meeting this Wednesday (9th) on how to use Bolar Fusible grids for block making.  We will just be doing a small block using a 6x6 two inch grid which yields a 9" block.  They can then make a hot mat, pot holder or add a border and make a pillow.  I think it will be a fun meeting and I hope they enjoy making the block.

This is the front and back of the sample I made.  The class I took clipped the seams a little differently, but I really prefer to press mine open and have a simple method for doing this.  I will demo both methods and let them choose what they want to do.  I also provided them with sample designs I drew in EQ to give them ideas of how they can make their own designs. All they have to bring to the meeting is 36 two inch squares and at least 36 straight pins.  I will set up ironing stations and they can use my two machines for the little bit of sewing necessary.  Most like to do their sewing at home, but they can get at least 3 seams sewn at my house and cut so they know how to press the seam open, or to the side, which every they prefer.

APIP #1 Meryton - I completed the third Star Flower block, just one more to go and I can start working on the machine pieced blocks.

APIP#2; Bloom and Sew; I completed block 3 and should receive the fourth block in the BOM from Gail Pan on the 11.  

APIP#13; Rose and Tulip Applique Block  (NEW APIP).   My guild has an open sew day on the first Friday of each month at a local church.  It is open to all that want to come, and visitors are welcome.  I was working on one of my Meryton blocks and they asked if I would do a demo at the next meeting.  I use a Golden Thread paper to make an "underlay" of the pattern and this is primarily what they want me to demo, but I will also have to explain "prepared edge applique" as that is an important piece of the process.

I have chosen a Rose and Tulip block, from a book titled Rose Sampler Supreme by Rosemary Makhan.  This book was gifted to me by my wonderful friend, Darlene, and I have always wanted to make some of the blocks in the book.  I plan to turn this one and maybe two more as bed pillows to use with my Meryton quilt.  I am not going to use all the same fabrics that are in the Meryton, but the colors will coordinate.

This is a picture of the block I took from the book.  I have the pattern and underlays completed, and hopefully by next week I will have more to share on the blog. When I have a demo to do, I like to get it all prepped and ready to go asap, just incase life happens between now and the meeting and I run out of time :)