After a year in the works, the time has finally come to share... "Lovebirds' Garden" and "Lovebirds' Garden - Just The Shapes" with you!
... and what better way to celebrate than with a 20% discount on my latest quilt patterns PLUS my entire Payhip shop! Simply enter the code: Lovebird when you check out. Sale runs from March 15th through March 25nd, 2018!
My Lovebirds' Garden Medallion Quilt, is for the intermediate to advanced quilter who enjoys appliqué
as well as traditional piecing techniques. This 82" x 82" medallion
quilt is sure to be an eye catcher, or equally as stunning as a smaller
wall hanging...
Lovebirds" Garden – "Just The Shapes" is a spin-off from my original Lovebirds’
Garden medallion quilt pattern, and just as the name suggests – includes
“just the (applique) shapes”. The templates are outline drawings that
can easily be printed on A4/letter size paper and then be traced onto
your own materials to make appliqué shapes. Templates can also be used
for paper projects.
Really looking forward to seeing some of your Lovebirds' Garden projects!
I really love the fact that some of the modern sewing books that have been published recently are embracing the art of sewing from the core of it's very humble beginnings... stitching by hand.
I've always had the utmost and highest respect for the hand quilter. For me, WOW, goes without saying. When I look at almost everything that Anna Maria Horner puts her hand to, digging back to her generational roots, it really makes me realize that this woman really has it in her to the very core of her being! Carolyn Friedlander's new book Savor Each Stitch, really encourages just that, and in her recent book, Applique, the Essential Gudie to Modern Applique, Alison Glass even subtitled her "Fountain" quilt, "this could take a while". Isn't it refreshing that such modern designers, who have been told by today's society that being domestic is not "in", make such efforts to not only preserve the art of handiwork, but take it to the next level?
While my appreciation for the "art of doing it by hand" goes deep, I unfortunately belong the microwave generation. If you want something hot it's very simple... one short minute... ding... eat! With that being said, the very thought of needle turn applique has been haunting me since I started my "Facing East" blocks.
I know that there are two sides when it comes to quilting: machine quilting vs. hand quilting... and EVERYONE who quilts usually has a strong opinion about one or the other. Perhaps my previous statement might be a pretty good indication of my opinion of the topic. This also comes from a girl, who has never even hand basted a quilt binding (I know, I know, big cringe for some of you)
So I looked for a compromise to my dilemma... how to make the center circle for the Facing East blocks using another method other than needle turn applique? At my husband's encouragement, I decided to make the center circles slightly smaller. It was kind of fun pulling out school tools for the task.
I then I remembered a tutorial by the "queen of do-it-by-hand" herself... using this great little tutorial that Ms. Horner came out with back in the Chocolate Lollipop days. Make a circle template, place the template on top of fabric, wrap it up in foil, and iron it in place.
I attached the centers using a blind stitch on my sewing machine, and DING... ready for the next one.
What about you, do you like to savor the WHOLE process of quilting, including quilting by hand, or is the microwave version more your thing? Linking up with WIP Wednesday this week found here.
