After a week of procrastinating, I have finally started the first border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore” on Saturday.  I traced the whole pattern onto my background, which did not take nearly as long as I anticipated.  I like to use a Clover water-soluble marker when I trace my backgrounds.  The markers come in two sizes…thick tip and thin tip.  I always use the thick tip.  The line is thicker (of course!) and much easier to see!

Next, I made a whole pile of leaves.  Lots and lots of leaves.  The leaves get stitched in place first, and then the bias stem is placed on top of the leaves, so I need to make all of the leaves first .  I am trying my darndest to stay focused and organized all at the same time.

As you can see, each leaf has it’s own number.  And they are actually backwards because when I print my patterns onto the freezer paper, I reverse the pattern.  So…I take each leaf and match it up with the corresponding leaf on the paper pattern.  A little time consuming, so when I have enough leaves to complete a vine, I yell “Bingo!”  It helps to pass the time.

Once the first set of leaves was complete, I  started working on the center vase.  First, I did the cute little curly-cues.  And then the rest of the vase.

Annabelle is coming along quite nicely.  The hexies are mighty small and I am fussy cutting the fabric, so it is taking a bit of time!  I love how the hexies gives just a burst of something a little different!

Til next time….

Kerry