Lots to Share

It is frosty and cold here this morning in North Carolina. No frost on any pumpkins around here. But frost on the my Oak Leaf hydrangea and the yard. The wind blew a lot of leaves on the ground during last few days. I picked the last of the grape tomatoes so they wouldn't get ruined. These came from plants that I did not even put in the ground which is always cool. One plant grew out of the crack in our patio. The plants I did spend money on did horribly this summer. Not sure why.

I got a nice surprise in the mail yesterday. I sent my mom a book on applique which I will show you all later, and she sent a bag that she made just for me. Isn't it pretty? My mom, her two sisters, and my grandma are all quilters. I guess quilting is in our blood.

A fellow friend and guild member has been reading my blog and she sent me this picture of her house quilt to share with you all. She, Mrs. Goodneedle, made and taught a BOM class using this pattern in 1993. It is a fun quilt. Check out her blog. Check out Darlene's blog for some fantastic applique on the Oct.28 entry. She has several applique UFOs and you can vote and let her know which quilt she should work on.

Okay now for some of my applique and some of the work of my students. If you read some of my profile you would have read that I teach applique classes. I teach at a local quilt shop a couple times a year. I usually have 2-5 students which is a good number to work with. Too many and I can't help them all. This past year I taught this quilt from http://www.appleblossomquilts.com/ It is called Buttons and Blooms. My version is the pink one done in the 30's fabrics and you might recognize the machine quilting. It is done by the same person who did my little flower quilt I showed earlier. The other two are from my students. The other three students haven't finished yet. It was a fun class and it is always fun to see what fabrics they choose.

Okay that is enough for today. I am having withdrawals. I need to go do some applique.

With Passion, Carrie P.

I just have to share these two patterns that I just ordered. I really want to get started on the Hearts and Hands pattern. (circles) I am going to be strong and try to get some other UFOs done first.

You might recall that I mentioned that the applique quilt that I showed yesterday was a free block on the internet. If you go to http://www.bdieges.com/ you will find some beautiful applique blocks each month. Sometimes it is not right at the beginning of the month that they are posted. I have not done any of her blocks but I have been collecting them because I really like her work.

I thought I would share a picture of the room where I sew. This is the view I have from my sewing machine. I am actually standing in the middle of the room and my sewing area is behind me. The picture would have been too dark if I would have stood where I sew. This room is over the whole length of our garage. It is great watching the trees change.

Here are two more of my fall decorations I forgot to show you. The little pumpkin wall hanging was made by a friend.

I am off to my quilting bee that meets every Wednesday and a charm exchange at a local quilt shop. Talk to you later.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Applique and Houses

Yesterday I received a comment from Nanette suggesting more closeups of the applique quilt I showed you yesterday. So that is what you are seeing. Just a few more.

I know many of you out there are participating in the Christmas Cottage Exchange and I have been thinking about how I am going set my blocks. Have you all been thinking about that? I was watching Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel on our pbs channel yesterday. She had a group of friends that had exchanged house blocks and each setting was so different. One had snow on the roofs and the ground. Some had sidewalks coming from doors. Lots of them had pieced or appliqued trees. Hmmm! One even had the houses sort of floating. Sort of like my flower quilt. No borders just the same back ground fabric. The houses reminded me of ones out in the country, far and few between, instead of in a row like a neighborhood. I hope you can picture that one in your head. It was so fascinating to see all the versions. I hope all of you that are participating will show your finished tops.

I was visiting some other blogs yesterday and came across this one: http://scrapsandstrings.blogspot.com/ Check out Oct. 27 and 21 entries. She has some house blocks that she is making into a quilt top.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Today is Stephanie's birthday. Why not take a minute and go to her blog and wish her a Happy Birthday. Have a Great Birthday, Stephanie.

The other day I was thinking about the word "applique." I know what it is but what does it mean and where does the word come from. I started to do a little research and I ended up on the Applique Society page. The word “appliqué” comes from French meaning “applied, fastened to.” Can you hear it being said with a French accent? It’s the past participle of the verb “appliquér”, to apply. One dictionary definition of the word refers to “a decorative feature, as a sconce, applied to a surface. New World Dictionary of the American Language states “a decoration or trimming made of one material attached by sewing, gluing, etc. to another.” The word traveled with the French as they explored the world. William the Conquer probably brought it to England in 1066; Napoleon took it to Egypt where appliquéing a design on tents was a long-established custom. Appliqué and patchwork have been known around the world and used in daily life for almost 2,500 years. The oldest surviving example of patchwork is an Egyptian canopy quilt from 980 B.C. So as you can see this technique has been around for a long time and I am glad it is still around for all of us to enjoy. It's art!

When you have time, go check out the Applique Society web site. They have some great things. There is a "show and tell" page with some beautiful quilts on it. I used to subscribe to their newsletter. I subscribed for about five years. The newsletter is like a magazine but done in black and white. No color pictures but it was worth the read. The magazine has interviews with other applique designers, book reviews and some applique patterns.

Here is a picture of a wall hanging that I just finished. It was a UFO and I only had a few petals to put on a block. It was a free BOM on the Internet several years ago. I tried to find the website but I can't seem to remember what it was. This is one of my first attempts at applique and I can really see an improvement in my work. I had it machine quilted by a local long arm quilter. She does beautiful work.

With Passion, Carrie P.

A row done on UFO

Yesterday I finished one row of the BOM that I am trying to finish before my next guild meeting. It took me about 2 hours to quilt this one section. Some of you are probably wondering what I am doing. Well I am trying something new for me. I want to quilt some of my quilts but you know how hard it is to fight with them in a regular sewing machine. I had this book by Georgia Bonesteel who does something called "lap quilting" and then I bought this other book a while back by Marti Michell. So this is my first attempt at trying this technique. So far so good. I will let you know how it is sewing the four rows together.

The block patterns were made from Marti Michell templates. They are made of plastic like the rulers. I did not buy them instead I made freezer paper templates. I have decided that making a quilt like this is not for me. Now give me freezer templates for applique and I am ready to go.

As you can see I also added sashing strips which matches some of the fabric in the blocks. Let's talk applique tomorrow, okay?

With Passion, Carrie P.

Autumn

Thank you everyone for all the comments to welcome me to the world of blogging. You are so kind. I hope my blog will not disappoint.

Today I thought I would share my fall decorations. I have seen many blogs showing their beautiful decorations. I love to make quilts but my decorating skills leave a lot to be desired.


A lot of you will recognize this pattern and fabric. This was one of my first quilts. When I started quilting Thimbleberries was a big thing at the shop I used to visit. (the shop is no longer in business) I was a member of a club and it was fun. I learned a lot and I did a lot of Thimbleberries patterns.

Here is a picture of a table runner that I made for a challenge that my local quilt shop was having. We were given some really ugly fabric and we had to use it in the table runner. I used mine in the blocks in the middle of the runner. I came up with this layout and I used a pattern from this book.

The picture on the right is the pattern I used. If you look close even though it is blurry you can see the two lower left blocks. Those are the two I used in my table runner. It was fun to come up with a design. There were gift certificates given but I did not win one. That's okay though.
And last but not least I thought I would show you some of my punch needle. I have taken up this craft this year. It is a great way to use up the embroidery floss that I have from many years of counted cross stitch. The punch needle is an original design. Punch needle reminds of cross stitch because you have a piece of blank fabric and then it evolves into a beautiful picture.

That is enough for today. I am off to the YMCA to get some exercise. Enjoy your day wherever you are at.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Jumping In

Well, I am jumping into the blog world with both feet. I have had a lot of encouragement from Stephanie. I am not sure how I found her blog but she told me I was the first giveaway winner on her blog. I have been visiting her blog ever since. As you can see from my blog list, I have a lot that I visit. It is great inspiration for me to see and read the blogs. People are so talented.

I thought I would let you know that my header is actually some Chrysanthemums that are growing in my yard. So that is my first Autumn picture to show you all.

My blog is called A Passion for Applique. I will be showing you many things that I am working on but I will share other things too. The first thing I want to share with you is something that our guild is doing this year. I made a list of 10 UFOs and each month a different number will be drawn and that is the UFO that I will work on for the month. I am supposed to bring it to the next guild meeting to show how far I have gotten. I will be showing you my progress also. I think it will be a great way to get some things done. All I have done so far on this UFO are the blocks. This quilt is actually one of those $5.00 quilts you might have heard about or maybe even participated in. You pay $5.00, make a block, bring it back finished, and get the next block, free. So you can make a quilt for very little money.

I hope that you all will enjoy reading my blog and seeing my progress on my UFOs and seeing my applique work.

With Passion, Carrie P.