My Garden path

I was lucky enough to nab an advance copy of  The Garden from GloriousColor,  and have gone a little different route with it.   I thought you might like to see a few of my early blocks,  just thrown up on my wall for the moment.   They will have a checkerboard sashing later on.

I'm actually doing machine applique with the blind hem stitch using mono on top and a matching thread in the bobbin (in case it shows up a tad).   I am doing a freezer paper underneath and am gluing with Rubber Cement (Sharon Pederson's technique) which works so much better than the traditional glue stick.  Then a quick stitching and voila.

"Kim"spiration

Before I was blown away by the Roseville pattern and finally committed to tackling a "real" Kim quilt, I was a follower and admirer of her patterns on Glorious Color. You can see her influence in this baby quilt I adapted from a pattern called "Flowering Vines" by Becky Goldsmith. By the time I was ready to make the borders, I had the Roseville pattern; those are Kim's birds on the top. (I probably should have asked your permission, Kim, but I promise I'm not selling any patterns!)
Avery Rose is my newest great niece, the first child of my nephew and his wife. Apparently Avery didn't know first babies were supposed to take their time. She arrived precipitously on the living room couch and was delivered by a Chicago fire fighter! I don't usually make such elaborate baby quilts, but I just couldn't help myself once I discovered the fun of fussy cutting.

Now I'm well into Roseville. Separately I'll post a new finish (mostly because I haven't figured out how to put the photos where I want them). Can anyone help with that?

More Lollypop Trees

I have been working away on my Lollypop Trees and have managed to finish six blocks.
I like the way they are turning out although sometime I think I spend too much time stressing over not having the exact fabric.

I am using the freezer paper on top method without marking on the fabric.
I like this method but I wish I could figure  out a way to see the fabrics on the block before I sew them down.
I think it would help make my fabric choices easier.

Now with Kim's Flower Garden pattern available I am in a hurry to finish this one.

Lolly Pop Trees Started

I finished two blocks of my Lolly Pop Trees Quilt.
I believe the hardest  part for me is choosing the fabrics for each piece.
I spend more time shuffling fabric around trying to decide which one to use.

A lot of the fabrics are not available anymore and being mostly left brained - once I see one in the quilt its hard for me to substitute.

Those aqua leaves at the top of this block are bothering me.  What do you think?

It's here!

I'm going to write this post real quick so I can dive back into the goodies I received today....

 

From Glorious Color , the Roseville Album Quilt by Kim McLean! Since I've been more of a "piecer" than an "applique-er", I not only got the pattern and the starter pack of fabrics, but some Rowan cotton thread in "Circus" to get me started.  My postman came just a few moments ago to deliver it and I'm really excited to get stuck into this project. 

I've been sewing on the machine for some time now trying to get projects done, and I was ready to get back to handwork.  As it happens I was fortunate to take an intensive three-day applique course with Ted Storm a few weeks ago and being the wonderful teacher that she is, inspired me even more to add applique into my work in the future.

Together with finding and now being part of this wonderful blog,  I hope my skills will continue to grow!

So what better way to dive into it than with this quilt? 

I'm off to get back to that box of goodies!

happy stitching,

Heidi

My prize for posting!

I made it to the Post Office before they closed yesterday but did not have a chance to take any pictures.

Here they are-12 luscious "true" quarters from Glorious Color, Liza, Kathy and Pam. I know these will look great in my Roseville Album. Now to save to buy the background.

Before I forget-I read Liza's post on front basting and it looks like it may work for me. Back basting is a great method but we just didn't click.

Hearts and Flowers Finished!

I finally put the last border on my Hearts and Flowers quilt.  This has been a rather fast journey.  I started this quilt on August the 28th and completed the top yesterday October the 8th.

The quilting will be another story since I don't seem to get that done too quickly.  I think the piecing is my favorite part.

I am debating with myself now-- trying to decide-- if I should take the border on the right off and turn  it around.

I didn't notice  how different it looks until I saw it in the picture.

My next project will be Lollypops.  I have started on block one .  

The pieces are so much larger than they were in this quilt.

It's kind of magic!

Liza, what a wonderful tool !!!


Try it, you will be overwhelmed♥

Second Roseville Block Completed

I've finished the second block for my Roseville Album.

It looks pretty much like Kim's original block but I'm getting more comfortable looking at just the elements within each fabric to make choices so when I'm back in Grand Rapids and can hang them on the design wall I'll play around a little more with block three. I did get a pinking blade for my rotary cutter to try to keep the background fabric edges from fraying. Soooo frustrating. Back to stitching. I'm missing my package from Glorious Color - first week in the last four that I haven't placed an order.

Hearts and Flowers

Hi All,  Just joined the group and this will be my first post.  I will have to blame my friend Judy (AKA Judith of Lollypop) for my addiction to Kim McLean.  After seeing her quilts and all the beautiful quilts on the Glorious Applique Blog I just had to join in.
My first attempt has been to do the Hearts and Flowers quilt from Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Romance book.
I ordered the fabric kit from Glorious Color and have made several trips to Intown one of my local quilt shops to pick up more.  Did I mention this was an addiction?

Lollypop Trees

Here are my Lollypop Trees! This was such a fun, colorful exciting journey and I enjoyed every stitch. I had previously made "Stars in the Garden", an applique quilt by Piece O' Cake, beginning in 1999 with several other friends, each of us making our own quilt. That is when I began to love applique, so when it was completed and I saw Lollypop Trees on the Glorious Color website, I knew I had to jump in and begin another journey. My friend, Ille Waters, joined with me and we sat for hours/days, trying to decipher what fabrics were used. I actually love choosing fabrics for my quilts but since we loved this look, we wanted to make it just like the photo. Thankfully, Liza sent me a much better photo that helped us see the fabrics better, and now there is a really good photo on the glorious color website. I completed the top this summer as I spent two weeks making the sashing and cutting the 500+ squares. Now, I just need to quilt it.
Here are a couple of close-ups. The quilt is so large I could hardly get it all in the picture and be in the same room. Thanks, Kim, for designing such a fun quilt. The applique is so easy to do.
Funny thing is, you feel like you are almost finished when you get the 16 large blocks made but then there are the baby lollies in the border, but they really make the quilt!

In the Pink

My stash of pink fabrics is thinner than most, but I have decided to take some license and make the four corner blocks of Roseville mostly pink because I will be working on them as I undergo treatment for breast cancer. Quilting is absolutely the best medicine! If others of you have not yet made use of the "More Color" link on the Glorious Color homepage, http://morecloth.com/gloriouscolor/, I want to put in a plug for it here. It was easy for me to find a nice range of pink fabrics by clicking on the bars that looked most promising. Here is the additional stash that arrived yesterday.