To me, applique is about the journey, not about the destination.  With the kind of applique I do, there are 2 parts to the journey.  First, there is the prep work, which consists of ironing the seam allowance over a freezer paper template.  You can see how I prep my pieces in this blog post. If I had my way, I would prep all day long…literally!  I think it has something to do with “instant gratification”.  When I prep, I can see the design coming alive before my very eyes.  Very rewarding!

The second part of the applique journey is the stitching, which is my least favourite part.  I must confess, I find it terribly boring, so thank goodness for audio books!

So, my usual way of working is to prep a bit, then stitch a bit, just to keep the momentum going.  But, I didn’t do that when I started working on the left side of the third border on Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”.  I prepped the entire left side without stopping to stitch anything in place. Remind me never to do that again!

After a weekend marathon of stitching (and listining to “The Deep Blue Good-by, written by John D. MacDonald) I am almost finished stitching the border.  I just need to add the red berries, just like I did on the right hand side.

Also, I am almost finished hand-quilting my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt.  Sweet!

Of course, I had a bit of time to start a new-ish project!  This is the beginning of the centre medallion of my block-of-the -month “To Everything There Is A Season”.  So far, so good!   (Note to Self….stitch everything in place before you prep one more piece!)

Til next time…

Kerry