Making Lemonade

These last weeks have been all about getting ready.... getting ready to print my latest pattern, Whirly Girl... getting ready for my upcoming class in Hildesheim... getting ready for both of my Nadelwelt classes... getting ready for my next pattern release... not to mention finishing the quilt top for the pattern after that... wheh!?!... and what do I have to share? Not much... yet.

Well, how about we start with what's NOT under wraps? This weekend I'm teaching another starch applique class, and for those that have never tried this technique, I usually recommend starting out with a simple block that covers a little bit of everything. Since circles and leaves are a staple in many applique blocks, it's the perfect place to begin.

Once those are mastered, it's time to move on to bigger and better things. A simple heart is an ideal shape to begin with because it addresses the issue of an inward curve. Those are the points that can sometimes be tricky to handle because there's just not much fabric to work with.

Last fall, I made a sample block to demonstrate the starch applique technique when I taught a weekend course with Patch-Yard. She made another appearnace just recently in Patchwork Professional, where I did a little how-to "workshop" along with the magazine feature.

Since I will demonstrate this block yet again at Nadelwelt, I thought it might be time to make a plan for all those sample blocks, not that I get stuck with a bunch of random, orphan blocks that only get thrown into the WIP box later.... so I started a little fabric pull. 

Thinking about it in hindsight, it might have been better to have a plan before I started - connecting these two blocks to each other is not the easiest divide to cross... not to mention that is a color combo that is way outside my comfort zone.

So, now I'm making lemonade out of lemons!