Woohoo! I surprised myself with getting this finish done last night. It really helped walking through the steps on Wednesday with you guys. It gave me a plan and a focus which everyone knows is sometimes a wee bit challenging for me. Squirrel! Thursday night I was agonizing over how I was going to quilt this. I awoke on Friday with inspiration from the fabric for this one. Quilting a 11 x 20 wall hanging is easy compared to quilting a queen-size quilt I guess. I have been so focused on piecing bed size quilts that I have not really done very many small projects. Practice does make you better that is for sure! So here are a few closeups of the Blooming Apples.
I will be linking up this finished project with Patti at Elm Street Quilts for my August One Monthly Goal as well as with Capitola Quilter in October for my 7th 3rd quarter finish. Complete 3rd quarter list can be found here. August was also Applique Month with @southbaybella who hosts the #sbbsewfor15 which I have taken to heart since I discovered her monthly challenge in February of this year.
Other Applique Projects Status
@southbaybella ‘s applique challenge is extending through the holiday weekend. Even though we have a hockey tournament, it least it is in our home town – San Jose. I am hoping to work in more work on my three remaining applique quarterly goals.
Schoolhouse Wooly Mug Rugs
I pulled this out during Thursday morning hockey practice and made a nice start on these cute mug rugs. Wool applique is so cool because you never have to worry about raveling. Here is a closeup of my brown thread done and a nice start on the cream. There are a lot of tiny pieces so I do have to re-iron my fusible pieces back down. Wool doesn’t really take very well to fusible, but I just need it to stick long enough to stitch it down. I use a whip stitch for my hand applique.
Blooming Pansies
I haven’t actually worked on it yet this week, but I wanted to mention it since it will be part of the applique challenge for the weekend. I am very close to completing the machine applique on this project. I literally only have purple left – it’s just a lot of purple!
A Year in Words – Autumn
Once again, this is not something I have worked on this week but is part of the weekend challenge. All the machine applique is complete, it just needs to be layered, basted, quilted, and bound. After the Blooming Apples, I am feeling very confident regarding this project. It also has some flying geese’s pieced as a side bar. It will be fun to do some quilting on those colorful triangles. There will be a lot of negative space to quilt, I am thinking maybe I do a include everything but the kitchen sink meander – loops, stippling, paisleys, my favorite swirls. I think I may try my hand at free motioning the word autumn in it somewhere. We shall see. It will be fun.
Sew-A-Long Updates
#100days100blocks2019
Today I posted my last block I made this week. I started cutting blocks while cooking dinner last night. I got 3 cut and I have 3 more with their fabric pulls just waiting to be cut. This pattern is so nice, because most of the time the blocks are simple, but striking.
Here are blocks 60-62 (August 29th – 31st). If it works out, I will probably lay out row 6 this weekend. I am finding this sew-a-long is perfect to sew at same time as the Mama Gypsy.
#mamagypsyquiltQAL
This quilt-a-long is officially over and I am only halfway. LOL! When one of these challenges require this much intensity, I tend to fall flat on my face. But what the hell! It has been fun and I love the results. Judi Madsen is offering a Honest Fabric black & white version of the quilt to use as a backing on sale this weekend. I looked it up and did the math. It is actually cheaper to buy the 88×104 panel to use as my backing. Next on my list is buying that panel! If it works out, I hope to sew the next four blocks simultaneously as I work on my #100days100blocks2019 blocks and row. I found they are a great compliment to each other – as long as I am not in a rush. My blocks gypsy blocks turn out better. Row 3 is already prepped and just needs to be sewn! If I finish row 3 by Sunday, I will have completed my #onethingwithAmy for the week.
#fw1920eppsal
I have been diligently working on this english paper piecing project. I am halfway done with the block (really more than halfway). Just a couple more units to sew together. With all the hockey this weekend, this should be a slam dunk! I will have at least 4 hours to work on this and the mug rugs. I need to start cutting the next two blocks that I did the fabric pull for so I have them bagged and ready for gluing.
#365blockchallenge
I wanted to throw in a few words about this challenge just so I don’t lose sight of this cool challenge. I really need to go through my patterns to make sure I am current on printing out the daily patterns. I have kind of fallen off the wagon, but I know I will want to jump back on. I love this challenge and my skill has definitely improved.
#letsstichwithnatalia
I came across this quilty challenge a week or so ago and am now following it on YouTube and Instagram. I want so badly to participate in this 365 day challenge that is already 96 days in! They are doing a different free motion/ruler based design every day. What a way to improve your quilting. Maybe I will go back and draw out all the designs and use them on one of my other quilty projects. What do you think? So my challenge will not be stitching out, but drawing up the daily designs! Ready. Set. Go!
That wraps up today’s update. Need to get stitching with all these things that have to be done this weekend. LOL!
Happy Quilting and Safe Travels,
Peggy Stockwell
Very pretty. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.