June | 2017 | Simple Bird Applique

So excited to announce my quilt, To Everything There Is A Season, has won the Award of Excellence in Applique at Quilt Canada 2017! This quilt is superbly machine quilted by Rose Bell of Fancy Feathers.

It was a thrill just to have my quilt juried in, but to win an award is definitely the icing on the cake. For those that have asked, the complete pattern for this quilt will be available on the website mid-July. We are fine-tuning a few of the blocks, so sit tight!

Meanwhile, I am busy getting my borders ready for the current BOM, a combination of 2 patterns designed by Sue Garman. I love a border with swags on it (especially on an appliqued quilt). I just think it has such a classy look:)

First, I taped 6 copies of the swags together (each border has 6 swags on it). Then I placed the border fabric on top of the paper pattern and traced the swags. I used plastic to make a template of the swag to make tracing much easier and so much faster.

I prepped all the pieces and glued everything in place…

…and Ta Da! Let the stitching begin!

Til next time…..

Kerry

Has this ever happened to you? I was so excited (I mean really excited) to finally start stitching my blocks together, along with the paper pieced stars and sashings. I obviously wasn’t paying attention…just pinning and stitching…pinning and stitching. Did I mention I was really excited?

Then I spent a bit of time ripping out and ripping out. Then, again with the pinning and the stitching. Ah…..that’s much better!

So now that all the blocks are going the correct way (I think), it is time to start working on the border, which has some lovely appliqued scallops. Can’t wait to get started on those. I absolutely loved paper piecing those little stars. I ran into a tiny glitch that I want to share with you. The stars are supposed to be 4 1/2″ square unfinished. And so the sashings are cut at 4 1/2″ x 15 1/2″ to match the stars. Well…for some reason, my stars measured 4 1/4” square. Every single one of them. Hardly the end of the world, though…

Thank goodness I hadn’t cut my sashing strips yet, otherwise I would have been trimming them down from 4 1/2″ to 4 1/4″, which would have been a pain in the neck. So, when I did cut my sashings, I cut them 4 1/4” x 15 1/2. The moral of this story is to make your stars first, then cut your sashings to match that measurement.

I have been taking a bit of time to work on my samples for The Academy of Applique 2018. This is all I can show you now:)

I just want to remind anyone who is interested in the Bed of Roses BOM, that July 1 is fast approaching. If you are thinking of signing up, there are a couple of spots left, so best hurry! The details are on the website Simple Bird Studio.