WIP Wednesday 4-10

This is this weeks work in progress.  Its a block from Baltimore and Bali.  I think this is the sixth block I have made.  Not sure though.  I should go back and count.  The pattern is done with all batiks but I am using cottons instead.

All I have left is to finish the orange flower and stitch down the yellow pieces on top of it.  Excuse the washed out pictures.  Its raining and cloudy so the flash is making my pictures look bad.  :(

I know these pictures are big but I wanted to show a close up of my stitches.  The section above is all done.

Here's a close up of a flower bud.  Please excuse all the fuzzies.  Black fabric picks up every little thing.

You can see in this picture that the bottom of the orange flower is not stitched down but the side is.  That's where I started.  

I turn all of my edges before stitching them down.  I have plans to do a tutorial soon on exactly how I do it.  But basically I use an applique foundation that I get at Purple Daisies.   Then I use a elmer's school glue stick to turn all the edges.  I even do all the stems that way.  The foundation is left in after you are done so I don't want the stems to look different.  After you wash a quilt that uses this foundation it puffs up and looks almost like trapunto.  Just not as puffy.  After I turn all the edges I baste it to my background with Roxanne's Basting Glue.  Love that stuff.  Now to stitch it all I have to do is grab my thread, thimble, and block and go to it.  Its so quick and easy on the go.  I love applique this way.  It took me a couple evenings to do the prep work.  I usually do it on a tv stand in front of  the tv so I can catch up on some shows at the same time.  (BTW, I watched Argo one of the nights I did this and it was such an amazing movie!!!)  

I have done needle turn but I was just never happy with the way it came out.  I am a bit of a perfectionist and could never get over the learning hump.  

A few posts ago I complained about the thread I was using.  I use Masterpiece bobbins from Superior threads.  My thread kept breaking.  It was getting frustrating so I wrote the company to see if I was doing something wrong.  And I was.  I was using too long of a strand.  And on top of that I think the foundation was fraying the thread as well.  So now I take extra care to make sure I stitch right in the fold and not get the foundation and I have had much better luck.  Still a couple breakages but so much better than before.  

This week I am linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced.  

WIP Wednesday 3/26

This is what I am working on this week.  Its an applique block from a block of the month at One Piece at a Time.  I love hand work.  What I haven't loved is this thread.  And I think its just me.  I have been searching all over Google for help.  I have been using Superior Masterpiece's bobbins that they make specifically for hand applique.  I have even gone so far as to email the manufacturer to see if I am just crazy.  (Just did it today so no response yet.)  I have been stubborn and dealing with them for the last 6 months trying to make it work out. Everyone raves about how great they are for hand applique.  I literally have not found one negative review.  My thread keeps breaking.  A lot.  Like stitch for about an inch and it breaks.  My thread isn't too long.  I have tried different needles.  I have used wax.  I think its time for me to part ways with it.  

My next try will be with silk.  I just can't wrap my head around only needing to use a few neutral colors though.  Can you really not see it?  Does anyone have any words of advice for a thread for hand applique?

Linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced. 

WIP Wednesday

Its WIP Wednesday again.  I have a few different things to show you today.  First of all I finished the embroidery block I showed you last week.  I am currently working on the pieced border. I think I should have that done tonight or tomorrow then I can sandwich it and quilt it. I haven't quite decided what I am going to do for quilting yet.  

I almost always have a hand block to bring with me places to keep me occupied so I started this hand applique block this weekend.  I did most of the prep while we were snowed in under snowstorm Nemo.  I use a glue stick to turn all of my edges under then I glue baste them to the back ground using Roxanne's Basting glue.  Instead of using freezer paper like most do I use applique foundation.  Its really great.  I don't have to remove it after and it gives my applique a little bit of a pop, almost like trapunto.  

The picture below is a close up of the block.  I have stitched down the orange flower but not the base.  Sorry for all the fuzzies all over the block.  Black really does pick up everything.  

This is the pattern I am using to do this quilt.  I am doing it as a block of the month from Cotton Patch Fabrics.  However instead of using batiks like the pattern it comes with cottons.  Cotton Patch really has great prices on their BOM's and they have tons of them.  The only complaint I have is that the pieces aren't labeled where they should be used and a couple times I think I may have been missing a piece here and there.  I didn't get that black flower above with my kit for this month.  I had to supplement with my own scraps.  Which is fine because I have so many.  Its not really anything I would ever complain to the shop though.  This BOM is 15 dollars a month and whatever keeps the costs down are fine with me.  The customer service with them has been great so far.  And to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if I had just used the wrong piece somewhere.  I have to keep stopping myself from ordering more.  

I am linking up to Freshly pieced this week.  I can't wait to see what everyone is working on this week.  

Jingle BOM

This is the block I posted the other day with the nasty pink stain on it.  It was on that right corner.  Can't see it now can you?!  I love that it came out!  If you want to see what other people are doing for this Block of the month you can check it out here, Jingle Belles.  There are some really beautiful blocks showing up.

I just wanted to make a quick note on which fabrics I choose and why.  For Christmas I received a bundle of Moda Marbles that worked perfectly for this block.  So I have decided to go with mostly marbles for all of it.  Since my small bundle wasn't going to be enough I recently ordered more of these colors and a couple more since this quilt is going to be Christmasy.  I also decided to order some Moda Swirls too.  I wanted to stick with fabrics that I knew wouldn't get discontinued on me since I didn't know how much to order.  I am going to wait to pick out my sashing colors and borders until all of the blocks have been posted.  I can't wait until the next block gets posted.  This one is going to be a pieced block!

Oops

I just recently started a free block of the month I found on the blog One Piece at a Time.  She does beautiful applique.  It is going to be an applique/pieced quilt with Christmas themes.  She just released the first block last week.  I was so proud of myself that I had it almost done this weekend.  All I had left to do was make the berries then applique them down.  As I was making the berries I noticed a small spot on my background fabric.  It looked a little bit like chocolate.  Darn it.  So I took a damp paper towel and tried to remove it.  And then being the smarty I can tend to be sometimes I took my iron to that corner to dry it off so I could finish applying the berries.  When I had placed my block on the ironing board I had a small piece of red fabric under it.  And so when I combined the applique block, the red fabric and the iron I made a huge mistake as you can see in the next picture.  The red fabric bled on my block.

I was quite distraught.  I did not want to do this block over again.  I was quite proud of the job I had done so far.  So my lovely husband, Mr. J, went to the store and got some stain remover.  He came back with a Tide Stain Stick remover and Stain Devils Ink and Crayon remover.   First I tried the Tide.  While it worked a little it still didn't help that much.  Next I tried the Stain Devils.  I had never heard of it before so I was a bit skeptical.  But now I am in love.  It got the stain out almost completely.  In fact if you didn't know it was there I bet you couldn't see it.  Here's a link to the product, here.

So now my block is almost complete.  I never did finish the berries last night because of the Super Bowl.  Hopefully I should be able to post the finish tonight.