Kristen over at
So Happy has started a nice weekly linky for handwork, and I'd like to use it as a motivator on my projects, so I'm joining in on her
Take Your Time Tuesday link-up in addition to my normal WIP attention. It's perfect for this week since almost all the work I've got done has been limited to show time with Scott after dinner.
I used to really shy away from hand applique, but its clean, polished lines seduced me into entering that world this year, and the time I work on that is when we're enjoying a moment together in the evenings on the sofa.
I keep my applique station in a tote - the pieces that are ready for stitching, a baggie with the silk threads I use right now and an upholstery thread, the container of dainty applique needles, my "applique glasses" that have zones for close-work and for TV viewing, and some good, sharp scissors.
The tote's easy to grab if I know I'm likely to be waiting anywhere, like the kitty ophthalmologist in a town 5 hours away. . .
There is one big applique block that lives in my tote, but when I started working on a Dear Jane, I found that an awful lot of those Baby Janes find their way to the tote as well.
The large block is the centerpiece for my Ruffled Roses BOM. I am in love with the back-basting method and know that I will use it for almost all my applique. There are times when the ol' freezer paper method works better, but that's happening few and far between.
For this particular block, I decided to keep all the vining motifs in one piece and laid a whole green fabric over the background to baste down instead of fiddling with narrow bias strips for that step.
I'm not worried about all the cut-away portions being wasted because a lot of the many leaves that get added come from the same green. I'll also use this green in my next applique quilt, so it's all good in the end.
Here's the quilt this central block is for:
Once I finish that block, I'll load my tote with the My Tweets applique BOM, which I've been itching ALL YEAR to start. :)
And Baby Janes float their way through - this one is partially stitched, waiting for me to applique the next round of back-basted pieces. (The really funny thing is that the fabric that came in this month's pack for this block is the same as the fabric I'm using up above!)
This one was finished up last night during a CSI episode.
A big Thank You to Lee for hosting WIP Wednesdays, and Esther for WOW. :D
