Twister Update . . . .

I found it funny that several folks are exactly like me, bought those twister templates but never did anything with them!  

I received this red and cream "Lil Twister" project for Christmas last year, so some folks are using their twister rulers.

It matches my guest room decor and looks perfect on top of this dresser.

I included this shot to give you a better perspective of the size.

Besides the comments saying "I bought one of those and have never used it" I got a very helpful email from Dawn at First Light Designs.  Dawn teaches Twister classes and was nice enough to send her class handout with Twister secrets and a couple of pictures of one of her Twister projects.

Dawn and I both agree on the following , the Twister template, very clever and easy to use, the Twister books, not so helpful.

Here are a few helpful tips Dawn passed along to me:

 - solids and small prints work best

 - the corners of each square of fabric are what you will see in the finished project, so pay attention to the them and the fabrics next to them.

- the amount of contrast that you see before you use the twister template is greatly reduced after the pieces are cut and sewn back together.

- experiment with scraps before cutting first project.

Here's a picture of Dawn's pieced project before using the Twister.

And here is what that made!

Isn't that amazing!

Dawn named this project "I love Paris"  I really love the row of tiny twister blocks at the base of the heart, a great touch.

I'm planning on using Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda for my project.

The print is a little big on some of the fabrics in this line, but I'm going with the Twister, not the Lil Twister, so hopefully it will all work out!  Stay tuned, or better yet, get your Twister out and see what you can make!

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Evening Bloom, In Full Bloom!!

Can you believe it!  I can't believe it! 

Only 18 months in the making but here it is,  all done!

(see what I mean about swapping block 3 with block 9!)

Each time I blog about Evening Bloom I get a question or two that makes me think, "I should have included that information in my blog post!" So I'll try to include all the pertinent details in this post.  But I'm sure I'll forget something so don't hesitate to leave a comment or send an email with any questions.  For some real fun, select "Evening Bloom" from my Categories list on the right hand column of my blog and read all about it, start to finish.   Block number 5, the center block had some ugly looks in the beginning!  I'm so glad I documented that block's growth, it came a long way!  I guess I could say the same thing about the whole project . . . and me!

This is my first appliqué project.  The pieces were appliquéd by hand using needle turn appliqué.

All the fabric is by French General for Moda.  The background fabric is from the Lumier de Noel line, the majority of the appliqué pieces are from the Maison de Garance line, with a few Rounneries pieces thrown in.

Each of the nine flower blocks finish at 24 inches, the border and center fan blocks finish at 4 inches.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 89

It finishes at 80" X 80"

It has approximately 626 pieces.

The pattern is Evening Bloom and is from the book,

Country Inn by Barb Adams and Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs.

This project was pure joy, start to finish. And even though it's not perfect, it's far from perfect really, I still love it, flaws and all.  I'm pretty picky when it comes to my piecing but for some reason I was pretty easy on myself when it came to appliquéing those blocks.  I guess after seven years of saying I would never do hand appliqué, I was just so amazed that I could do hand appliqué and even more amazed how relaxing and fun hand appliquéing turned out to be, that I couldn't help but love it.

If you've been avoiding trying appliqué you've not found the right pattern for you, one look at this pattern and I just knew I had to make it.  I think this will be the first of many for me.

I never would have made this project if a friend hadn't given me the book, a friend who was mortified that I didn't own any Blackbird design patterns, so thanks friend for getting me started.  It also took a patient and experienced appliqué teacher to teach me everything I needed to know to appliqué these blocks, thanks Marianne!

This quilt has the perfect name, Evening Bloom, I don't intend to change it since the majority of my time spent on those blocks was in the evening.   What in the world am I going to do with my evenings now?

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Evening Bloom, Block Nine . . .

Here's the last block for Evening Bloom.

Block Number 9.  

Technically it's Block Number 3, but it was so similar to Block Number 1 I thought it would look better in a different spot so I swapped it.  I'm happy to report that my technique and speed increased with every block.  I loved stitching these blocks so much I wish I had 9 more to do.  Although that would take a very big bed, these blocks are huge, each block finishes at 24 inches.

I'm spending quite a bit of  my free time working on my dresden border blocks for Evening Bloom, but I'm also plotting my next project.

I'm wanting something fun and easy.

I've had these Twister templates for ages and think it's time I played around with them some.

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Evening Bloom

I thought perhaps putting some of those finished border blocks on the quilt would be a motivator to keep working on them.  The directions call for all the appliqué blocks to be connected then the border fan blocks to be added in a long strip. I'm not doing it that way.  One, I don't have my final block done, so I can't sew all my rows together, and two, it's been driving me crazy wondering if those fan blocks would meet up.

Good news, so far they're matching up just fine!  This is block one, my very first appliqué block in my life and this project.  Those dresden blocks are the perfect final touch.  

Hopefully the rest of the blocks will go together as easily and nicely.  I still have a basketful to go.

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Little Updates . . . . .

Now that Settler's Trail is out the door and waiting to be quilted I'm focussing on Evening Bloom.  After 17 months I'm ready to wrap up that project.

This basketful of diamond pieces, 

is now this basketful of border blocks.

The points still need to be hand appliquéd down, I used a few strips of fusible web to hold everything in place until I get to them.  I'm a little nervous about all those points, edges and centers matching up perfectly, seems like a lot to ask of those little blocks!

Joe at ThimbleCreek Quilts mailed out a picture of their booth at Spring Market.  There's the red and white quilt I blogged about on the left, below that adorable house quilt.

But another quilt caught my eye too, I may be mistaken but I think that quilt in the center is an interesting variation of  Settler's Trail.  Just a few subtle changes, it has the same look but a little more punch, I like it!


Is there a Doc in the house?  Not my house, but don't miss Sherri and Sinta's Doc Parade today!

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