March | 2019 | Simple Bird Applique

Exciting news….for the fourth year in a row, one of my quilts has been juried into the show at Quilt Canada this year! This awesome event is in Ottawa this year, which is only 5 hours away, so we are going on a road trip in June. Hope to see you there!

As promised, here are some photos from the second class I taught at the recent Academy of Applique, held in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Once again I was amazed at how much the students in The Blue Jay class accomplished. This pattern was different that The Rose of Sharon because the entire design is made up of layers, so most of the 3 days were spent building those layers…many, many leaves and branches. Most people started prepping the Blue Jays, and I am sure they have the birds stitched on to their background by now:)

So what else have I been working on? Well, like most quilters, I have a growing list of WIPs, so I have decided to work on that list. I am almost finished my Scrappy Log Cabin, which I must confess I love how it is turning out! I just need to choose borders:)

I am still stitching away on my 60 degree diamond quilt. I am using Inklingo to print my diamond shapes. If you are new to Inklingo, I urge you to give it a try! I only use Inklingo to do my handpiecing now. You just print (with an Inkjet printer) your shape collection on the wrong side of your fabric, which has a piece of freezer paper ironed onto the front side so that it will go through the printer. Next you cut your shapes apart and BAM! Your are now ready to start stitching. Notice that both the cutting lines and the stitching lines are printed on the fabric! What more can you ask for:)

So every night I make myself a pot of tea and stitch the night away. Really, it is amazing how much stitching you can get done when you just sit and do it!

Til next time…

Kerry

Believe me when I say that teaching at Barbara Blanton’s Academy of Applique is the highlight of my year! It really is an amazing time. Imagine being surrounded by nearly 200 people that share your same passion…hand-applique. It is not too early to start thinking about next year’s Academy, which will be held March 2-7, 2020. The class schedule will be available August 3, 2019 (mark your calendars…now!)

The first class I taught this year was The Rose of Sharon. I worried that maybe the students wouldn’t accomplish as much as I thought they should. But you can see from the photos that I need not have worried. The majority of students in this class were “beginners” and had not tried Prepared Edge Applique before. You can see that everyone caught on very quickly. That is why I love, love, love this method!