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Introducing Simple Pleasures
When life gets crazy I turn to applique. Give me fabric, thread, and a needle and I can relax. My newest block of the month, “Simple Pleasures” is 12 months of handwork that’s portable and easy to stitch. Once you’ve prepared a block, it’s perfect to take to along to stitch anywhere you may go. It will give you something to look forward to while you’re waiting in the doctor’s office or the school parking lot to pick up kids. I used this beautiful new fabric from Moda & Collections for a Cause, by Howard Marcus Dunn. The fabric line is called “Community”. Moda donates the proceeds from…
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Look What’s Cooking
We’ve cooked up some aprons this week and now you can too. It’s a free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop! Kim, Robin and I each picked out fabric, a kitchen towel to go with it and we started sewing. Kimberly at Fat Quarter Shop made a video that guided us step by step. Robin made “Miss Perfect Pearl” using fabric by Tanya Whelan. Didn’t her apron turn out cute? Kim made “Miss Dinner for Two” using a Sandy Gervais Dinner for Two panel for pockets! I had so much fun making this apron that I actually made two! I’m calling the first one “Mademoiselle Printemps”. I used the 3…
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APQ Quilt is finished
It seems like forever since I started this quilt. It was before Christmas, but you know how it is when life gets in the way. Things got put aside for a while and before I knew it March arrived. But I finally have a completed quilt and it feels so good! It was fun to play around with the colors in Plum Sweet. What a beautiful fabric line and the timing is great. The fabric has shipped to quilt shops and it’s available now. Look for Plum Sweet fabric by Blackbird Designs. I swear any fabric Barb and Alma design is beautiful, but this was one of my favorites. It’s…
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APQ quilt is quilted!
Nubin Jensen, a wonderful quilter from Arizona, has been quilting my American Patchwork Tone it Down Quilt. She sent me some pictures so I could show you how it looks! The colors been highlighted so you can see the quilting. The fabric is more of a tan color than it looks in the photos. All that’s left to do is to stitch on the binding and add a label! Kim’s sewing on the binding this weekend for me. She loves to bind quilts and I hate it. We work so well together! Then we can stand back and just enjoy looking at this quilt. We’ll get a full photo very…
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APQ Quilt Along
As I walk through my house searching for anything mauve or purple, I realize I don’t own a thing. Maybe that’s why this quilt has been so much fun. The colors are a refreshing change for me. I added two little birds to my applique basket. They seem to go with the vintage feel of the quilt. And then I added a border…a purple one! Borders are the hardest part of a quilt for me. I debate over what fabric to use until I drive myself crazy. This print looked too large, and this one too small. I ended up picking this one…the scale is good and I love the…
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APQ Quilt Along, Applique & Quilt Top
My APQ blocks are finally assembled, the sashing and nine patches have been added and I’ve just finished my first attempt at my applique block. Here’s block six on the design wall. Once I decided where each block would go, I numbered them with masking tape so I wouldn’t forget. Here’s my applique block. If you look closely you can see it’s been machine appliqued (or maybe you can’t tell). I prefer hand applique, but often, time becomes an issue. I can machine applique this block in about 1 hour! I use Kimono silk thread on the top in a color that matches the applique (you can also…