Flower Pots, Roseville & Hearts & Flowers

This is Nancy Smith's Flower Pots quilt. I love the deep colors she used - they just give it a nice contrast. It is hand-pieced and hand quilted.

And here is Nancy's version of the Roseville Album. It is a smaller quilt minus the inside border blocks.
Here is a close-up.
Last, we have the Hearts and Flowers quilt, beautifully done with many shades of rose, fuchsia and blues. It is amazing how much stitching Nancy gets done but she told me she spends her time stitching and not on the internet.........hmmm, maybe my quilts would come along a little faster if I did the same!! Enjoy and thank you Nancy for sharing your quilts!

Flower Pots Updated

I recently finished the top panel in my Flower Pots applique. I'll admit it was fun 'fussy cutting' the birds to look like the ones in the pattern photo. For close-ups of this panel, you can go to my blog. I am now working on the fun circles in the border.

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!

My First Post!

Hello - My mom (Mary Anne) and I both love applique quilting and have been following this blog for a while. She is working on the Hearts and Flowers while I decided to try the Flower Pots. I am a novice to applique quilting but I have been cross stitching for years. I can't sew a straight line on a sewing machine to save my life but I love hand sewing.

I used a variety of "brights" for this pattern, including quite a few Fassett fabrics mom gave me from her stash. ( Thanks mom!) I deviated a bit by embroidering a stem stitch for the stems on top of the flowers which have them. I felt it gave the top stems a more delicate look.

I am still struggling with fussy cutting and spend way too much time trying out different combinations but I sure do love these Kim McLean patterns!

By the way, I don't take credit for the blue and red flower on the right. Buddy, my black lab, watched me digging through my fabric tote and thought it was a game. I wasn't having much luck picking out combinations and I sat back, flung up my hands and said "I give up!" Buddy reached down with his teeth and pulled out the blue and brought to me. I made a pile of fabrics that sorta matched and made him pick out a couple more pieces and this flower combination was the result. Unfortunatly he got bored with the "game" and has retired from fabric selecting.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your wonderful blocks!

Liz Anne

Flower Pots Side Panel

Wahoo! I finally got another block finished with my Flower Pots. This is the first time I've ever worked with such a large panel but it seemed to squash up pretty well as I worked on the hand applique. I usually just sort of roll it into my hand to get to the place I need to sew.

Nancy from Tattered Garden gave me a couple of tips that were very helpful. She suggested using the "Roxanne's Glue-Baste-It!" to lay out my stems, using tiny dots to hold them in place before I began stitching. It worked so well! I just needed to remember to leave some open spots where I had to tuck a leaf under. Also, she suggested using a toothpick to put a tiny dab of glue from a glue stick when sewing the inner curves - that also worked well. Thanks, Nancy!

Flower Pot Progress

I started on my Flower Pots journey well over a year ago when I took a class with Pam. Had never done any applique before, and was frankly a pretty awful hand sewer. But the pattern is so beautiful, I was determined to make it work.

My first block didn't take too long

but the second took well over a year. To be fair, I do have a 2 year old and a demanding job, but I'm trying to make more time to stitch, and finished this one earlier this week.

Now onto Block #3... pattern is traced, freezer paper shapes are cut... and starting to stitch...

I'm excited to share this journey with the rest of you. This blog is great inspiration to keep stitching!

Flower Pots

This is my first time to show some of my applique on this blog. I do needle-turn applique by hand, using freezer paper on the right side of the fabric for my pattern pieces. These are my first two blocks of Flower Pots by Kim McLean. I did order the kit but also have quite a nice stash of Kaffe fabrics so I have used many of the same fabrics as Kim.
The applique goes so easily as the pattern pieces are large and easy curves, yet show off the beautiful fabrics. Thanks, Kim, for wonderful designs! I love viewing everyone's fabric choices for these patterns.