Aine's Farm

I call this "Aine's Farm", made for my great-niece Aine Tenoch --she has both Celtic and Aztec ancestors.  It's 36 inches square. I'm getting pretty good at selecting parts of Kim's designs and using them in small quilts-- more manageable for me.  I know I'm never going to make a queen- or king-size appliqué quilt but I get enormous pleasure working on these smaller projects.  These handsome animals are from Pandemonium.  Fabrics by Kaffe of course.  It is hand-appliquéd and hand-quilted.  I can't wait to start another one.

lollipop tree block #2

prepped and ready to stitch.

I had made such a mess with the first one, I figured, why not continue?  

This one went much faster, and I thought much less about the fabrics, fussy cutting and placement.

Much more fun and much more relaxing that way.

These trees are addictive and fun to make, but alas, I tidied up so I can begin stitching on tree #.  Don't think it will take long before I begin on number 3....

Just wanted to let you all know that I really am working on the Roseville Album, here are a couple of pics. This is the bowl for my center block. It is all one piece of fabric that I got from http://www.equilter.com/ and I just wanted something different. The second shot is the fabrics I've pulled/purchased/won for this project. Most are Kaffe Fassett but there are some hand dyes and some batiks in there as well.

Lollypop love

It all began with admiring the quilts on this gloriousapplique blog. Then I bought the pattern for the Lollypop Tree quilt and a little bit later a quiltstore in Holland started a Kim McLean club. I decided to join this club together with a friend. It became more and more fun to work on the Lollypop Tree blocks and to buy those gorgeous fabrics to work with.

Last month I started the blog Kim McLean in Holland, but I’m very happy to be able to show my work on this blog now as wel, thanks to Janet!!

I downsized the pattern to 70% of the original and the blocks I work on are downsized to 75%, so the appliqued forms fill have a bit more space around them. The squares in the sashings will therefore be made at 1,5" finished and I understood it’s better to start cutting all those little squares now!!


Nicolette

More Lollypop Trees Blocks...

I've been working on these for a few months now.  Slowly but surely I am making progress.  This is my first large applique project.

My most recent block is this blue and purple one.  My mother-in-law passed two weeks ago and she loved these colors, so I thought of her as I made this one.

You can see my other blocks at http://summerlouise.blogspot.com/search/label/lollypop%20trees

Summer @ Summer's Snippets

Another Hearts and Flowers

I'd like to show you a version of Hearts and Flowers made by my non-blogging friend Mary Jo Deysach. The wall-hanging was made as a wedding gift for niece Erica and her new husband.



Mary Jo made it smaller than Kim's pattern, obviously, by leaving out some borders. She added the wedding date and the couple's initials very cleverly. She also added some birds from my Flower Pots pattern to make it an even more personal gift. What a lucky couple!

Two More Blocks for Flower Pots

I liked the Star block in the center of the quilt so much I decided to make it twice, and skip the floral one. Now I'm working on the scrappy pieced borders. Does anyone have any advice about these? I am wondering if I should stick to softer prints like the 2nd and 3rd squares from the bottom on this trial piece. Would it be better to avoid stronger contrasting prints like the 2 in the middle and the one on the bottom? I like all of my fabrics so much, I paid little attention to placement, but perhaps I should. Help!

2nd Flower Pots Panel

I finished my 2nd Flower Pots panel this weekend. The first panel took about 3 weeks, but this one took a little longer because I also managed to hand-quilt a baby quilt for my new nephew. Naturally I enjoyed every minute of applique.















Here they are together. I've cut out the Star block so I'll have handwork to take on vacation on Saturday. Does anyone know a good quilt shop in San Diego? I can always use a couple more pieces of fabric, right?

I Met My Deadline

Here is my first panel of the Flower Pots quilt. Setting a self-imposed deadline was an excellent idea; I sewed morning, noon (lunch break at work) and night. When I finally finished the last stitches this morning and stepped back to look at it, I was pleased. I still have a lot to learn but it sure is fun.
I started stitching the flowers on December 30; the stems and the pot were already done. So it took roughly 3 weeks which isn't too bad.
Most of the applique was done after front-basting by hand, which sounds like a lot of work. But I don't mind doing it, and having most of the flowers basted let me carry it around and work on it without having to run to my 3rd floor studio to pin new pieces on. I think I'll continue to to do that.
Onward!

Getting Ready for Flower Pots

I ordered Kim's Flower Pots pattern as soon as I finished Hearts and Flowers--I was hooked and Glorious Applique had a lot to do with that. Thank you, bloggers!
First I had to decide on colors and fabrics. I like dark backgrounds a lot and set out in that direction.
I fell in love with the Philip Jacobs Coleus Leaf in teal, posted by Gisele in September, and that led me to Coleus Leaf in turquoise which was even closer to "my" colors. I went shopping and bought most of these at my LQS, Pennington Quilt Works in Pennington NJ. Coleus Leaf is on the right.
Then I needed a background and the decision was made when I saw this green solid at Fibers in Motion when I was vacationing in Portland OR. It wasn't what I went out looking for, but my heart took over. Obviously my plan had to change. I could keep elements of Coleus Leaf but the fabric itself wasn't enough of a contrast for my background.

















So I did some online ordering and pulled from my shelves and set up a card table:


Aren't they pretty?
Ready to go! I got busy, but was a bit discouraged at how long the prep takes--first I took Kim's pattern to Staples and had it reduced in size--I want a wall-hanging, rather than a bed quilt. Then plastic overlays, templates, cutting, pinning, basting etc. It seemed to take forever.

I also use Julee's method of numbering the paper pattern and the templates, and then laying the pieces on the paper before I pin them to the fabric. I decided I needed to choose fabrics for both the left and right panels before I did any sewing. I know some of you choose ALL the fabrics before sewing--there's no way I would have the patience for that.

I'm a lot happier now that I'm sewing. I am almost done with the applique for the one on the right--which is actually the left hand panel in the pattern. I work better with deadlines: I'm going to promise a photo of the finished panel by next Friday. That will keep me stitching!

All Things Kim

Would you like to learn more about Kim, our quilt design star? I found a delightful interview on the Alliance for American Quilts website, made at the Houston Quilt Festival in 2002. It's a transcription, and there are some parts missing, but I enjoyed it a lot. The address is http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/qsos/interview.php?pbd=qsos-a0a2j0-a
Just if your fingers are getting sore, and you need a break, of course.