Month 1, Part 2–The Applique Blocks

[Margo C.]

I’m blaming deteriorating eyesight, but I was frustrated with my attempts with both needle-turned edges and turned edges with a foundation, so I’ll be fusing my appliqué with raw edges. I’m using monofilament thread and a small single blanket stitch. Glad to have the first set done!

[Helen W.]

Hating to waste any fabric, I have decided to save the cut away portion of the fusible applique blocks and work them
into a wildlife quilt I started about a month ago. The first one I just cut out I am putting the extra onto a tree trunk in an eagle
block I am working on. I decided on a color palette that will let me use the fabrics in both quilts. HelenW

[Judith A.]

Helen,
Beautiful eagle! I love eagles. I visited a Raptor sanctuary for injured raptors in North Carolina. I believe your eagle quilt is the nicest one I have seen so far.

I have been thinking about using fabrics for two quilts.
I have a Primitive Quilts kit with fabrics that I keep eying, thinking they would work well in this Afternoon Delight quilt.

I think I will cut the pieces for the Primitive Quilts kit now, put them aside and use the scraps in the Afternoon Delight quilt.
However, it has a lot of dark reds. I will have to prewash them first. Sigh.

Judy

[Judith A.]

Your blocks look wonderful, Margo. I'm normally a needleturner but I'm shaking it up a bit, just as a bit of relief for me, so I'm fusing but then doing a blanket stitch with embroidery floss. Looking forward to these blocks and having some time to finish off other needleturned quilts namely Baltimore Garden which I am handquilting.

[Jill B.]

Great idea and looks great.

[Helen W.]

Judy, I too love eagles. The eagle is a Toni Whitney pattern. I have used it in a number of projects. I just change the size and put it in different scenes.
On lake Coeur d' Alene Idaho we have a migration of eagles that come thru in Dec. for the kokanee fish spawning. We normally get between one and two hundred eagles.
They are awesome to watch. HelenW

[Helen W.]

Adding some Afternoon Delight mini's to make my yet to be quilted Sizzle just a little more beautiful. I could not come up with a quilting
plan for Sizzle, so it remains a UFO. While working on my applique I thought they might look good if I reduced the size to 4 inches
and put them in the intersections of the Sizzle quilt. I like like it. I love taking parts of one quilt and working them into parts of something else.
HelenW

[Barbara B.]

Very clever, Helen!

[Diane O.]

What a great idea!!! I'm always looking at different patterns to think about how I could do something a bit different, so my quilt won't look too much like every other quilt using the pattern. I didn't do Sizzle, yet, but I will keep this idea in mind, in case I decide to do it at some point.

Diane in Colorado Springs

[debra a.]

Wow that looks awesome!

[Helen W.]

Noticed this and thought it was interesting. I might end up doing a horizontal layout since I like the look of the
double nine patch actually looking like they are on point. Might be a problem if fussy cutting applique blocks
like the cute dogs in center in the shoo fly block. Probably won't decide for a while. HelenW

[Helen W.]

This morning I decided to trim my blocks for Month 1. I did not have the template plastic that Barbara so smartly came up with, so I drew a 7 and 1/4 inch square with
reference lines. That concept is the same. But to keep it from shifting I use clear scotch tape to tape it to the appliqué block. To find the exact placement I ironed the block half both
ways. Put a pin in the center spot thru the paper and the block. Made sure the lines lined up with ironed lines, then taped in place. Took it to my cutting mat and
trimmed the block. N

o shifting of paper on block. I used painters tape just to show where I would have put the scotch tape. No need to pull the tape off either the paper
template or the trimmed off area. Worked great for me. HelenW

[Barbara B.]

Good thinking, Helen

[MaryJo M]

Margo, these are lovely!

[MaryJo M]

Greetings, and happy February! In my first post I declared that due to time constraints I would do raw edge applique. But in seeing all your blocks and watching the appliquick show again, I was inspired. I saw that many were having difficulty finding the Quilter's Select fuse product, so I went on their website and was happy to see that one local shop carried it. I zipped in on my way home from work and got the last package!!! So this morning I prepped the first applique block in about 3 hours. Roughly arranged but not sewn yet. I sewed a tube for the stems rather than turning edges. I most likely won't keep up, but after I retire at the end of July, I will get back on schedule, I'm sure. Thanks for all the posts and inspiration.