Folk Flower Blocks

Last week was an absolute flurry of things to do. At some point in preparing for my starch applique class with Patch Yard, I realized that the only thing that I was missing was a sample to deomonstrate the reverse applique technique. A simple circle is perfectly acceptable, but would have needlessly been tossed into the orphan block bin... and who wants that?!?

Recently I decided to try out a few classes on Creativebug, and was excited to see that the Anna Maria Horner "Folk Flower" block was among the classes. The block itself is simple enough to figure out on your own, but it's always interesting to see the thousand ways that you can ultimately end up at the same end goal.

Sewing by hand never was my thing, and never will be... but bring in the word starch, and you are talking about a whole other ball game for me. All in all, I still appreciate seeing a variety of techniques used in quilting. For me, using reverse applique with starch applique, is like the universe aligning.

On my blocks, I decided to use an appliqued bias tape strip instead of piecing it. I much prefer the bias tape to sewing thin strips, that often have the tendency to be a little wonky because of their small size. For the background, I am using some pretty strongly patterned prints, which are a far cry from my usual low volume backgrounds.

I'm just sure that I can come up with some kind of fun project for these leftover circle cut outs, don't you?...

These blocks were the perfect choice not only to demo, but to start a project that I've already had in the back of my head for a while now... I just love those killing two birds with one stone moments. So, how about if I leave you with just a few impressions from the class?