Sunday, March 31, 2013

Flower Pots


My Flower Pots is finally hanging on a wall.  I've quilted for 22 years, been a Kaffe Collectives enthusiast for 10. This is my very first applique quilt, not counting fused applique. ;)  It took me 4 months back in 2011.  I purchased Kim's Flower Pots as soon as it came out, desperately wanting to make it but not fused, and I was no good at and gave up, the "needle turn" method. I was getting desperate. Then I met my dear friend Anita Brady, who taught me the "The Best Press Method"; a technique using freezer paper or heatproof plastic templates, starch, and an iron to turn the edges perfectly. The next time we met, I showed up with the Flower Pots pattern and she thought I was completely nuts!  A beginner starting with such a project!!? But stubborn as I am, I dived in.  A wonderful long armer in California, JoAnn Carpenter, quilted it.  And guess what... Anita quickly became a Kaffe/Kim fan and is doing Pandemonium with me!  It's so much fun choosing fabric for Kim's patterns together.
Flower Basket Medallion is nearly done but I got side tracked with Pandemonium. I've only got small blocks left to make - but what a surprise.... now I'm desperate to start Tress of The Four Seasons...... Heeeelp! I don't have enough hours in the day!  ; )  Happy sewing!
Sylvi Sealy, Houston, Texas
    




  

22 comments:

  1. It's lovely! Can hardly wait to see all your other applique goodies too!

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  2. It looks amazing another lesson learned, I use Fabric Sizing which is much cheaper and the same results. not as slippery as Best press..

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    1. We have a lot of Silver fish bugs in Texas. They will eat anything with starch in it. Best Press is not based on real "starch" like normal sizing. I don't wash my applique quilts so we use Best Press to be on the safe side. ; )

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  3. Your story encourages me to press on. I have many Kim's patterns but have not caught on how to do the applique well.

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    1. I bet you could do it with the same method as I use. Wish I could teach you ;)

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  4. What a beautiful quilt, Sylvi. You give me courage about using a pro for at least some of the quilting on my Roseville Album. It is a thrill to see some new posts of Kim's designs in the past few days.
    Mimi, you might try Sylvi's method of prepping pieces to get started. The new issue of Quiltmania has Kim's Flowering Trellis pattern which might be less intimidating because the pieces are fairly large. Press on!

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  5. What a challenging quilt, and how brave you are to sew this as your first applique. Can you post a more detailed picture? It is absolutely gorgeous!!! I would love to see the details.
    ~Susan

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  6. Looks great, Congrats on finishing it. WEll done!!!!!!!

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  7. The photo has shown up beautifully Sylvi and it looks sensational. I would never have guessed this is your first applique quilt. It seems there are many methods to applique so there's bound to be one for those wanting to do it.
    The colours are beautifully balanced, congratulations, I can't weait to see more.
    Welcome to Glorious Applique!

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  8. I believe we have a mutual friend, Sylvi! Your quilt is absolutely beautiful. Very well done.

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    1. I'm intrigued..... tell me who?

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    2. Saw Rosie yesterday and today and was amazed it was her! Small world !

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  9. A quilt that SINGS with Spring...perfect timing for getting it done.

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  10. Your finished quilt is Gorgeous Sylvi!
    Congratulations to you!

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  11. It's a beauty! Fantastic work.

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  12. Congratulations... this is a star.

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  13. Perfectly lovely! I really like what you did with your birds; it's very very pretty. You even did the reverse applique on the leaves. Was I the only one too lazy to skip that?

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  14. How gorgeous! This quilt is really lovely, glad you've got it hanging up, must be great to be able to see it as you by. I started my appliqué by stitching the fabric onto a paper template but that proved to be cumbersome, then I started the needle turn which is better for me. Well done Silvy! Kim

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