Be the FIRST:)

IT'S HERE!!

After hours, weeks, years of work

 I am beyond excited to bring my

Well-Loved Ladies Sampler

quilt pattern to you!

Lots of information in this post

so please read to the end.

I am just GIDDY!!!!

Imagineered from my collection 

of quilts shared in my 

Well-Loved Ladies Lecture,

it really does show how they might 

have looked in their original time.

Still gorgeous (to me:) in their present 

condition, I know my lecture audience 

is trying to imagine this just as I do

whenever they get a night out on the town.

Now to the QAL:

I am so excited you are here.

My FB group has grown from

71 back in May to almost 300 

so I am looking forward to 

lively participation!

The FULL pattern is available as a 

PDF digital download HERE at an

introductory price of $42 until 

September 4th, 2020

(Reg price $49.95)

Etsy offers tips for printing digital patterns.

Please be sure to print ACTUAL SIZE.

All templates have a 1" square for accuracy.

This is a single-copy purchase for a single user!

Copies may not be forwarded or copied to 

be shared with others!

The pattern is required for the QAL.

My accompanying posts and videos

will not provide any measurements.

I will be providing technique

tips and history tidbits.

The QAL will take place in 

my FB Group with blog posts

adding additional information.

FB has been playing again so 

make sure all your notifications

are turned on so you don't miss anything.

Go to the area circled in orange to click the

 3 dots for a drop down menu.

In the menu (purple arrow) Follow group and in 

Manage notifications choose to get all posts.

SCHEDULE

Looks like a lot but it will go fast:)

September 6th: Block 1-Currants

September 20th: Block 2-Whig Rose

October 4th: Block 3-Oak Leaves

October 18th: Block 4-Pomegranate 

November 1st: Block 5-Turkey Tracks

November 15th: Block 6- Cherry Tree

Giveaway 

(drawing from those with finished blocks)

December 6th: Block 7- Laurel

December 20th: Block 8- Cockscomb

January 10th: Block 9-Apples

January 24th: Block 10- Prince's Feather

February 7th: Block 11- Mexican Rose

February 21st: Block 12- Ruffled Tulips

Giveaway 

(drawing from those with finished blocks)

March 7th: Sashing & Assembly

March 21st: Top & Bottom borders

April 4th: Side borders

Giveaway 

(drawing from those with finished blocks)

April 18th: Finishing

May 2nd: Follow up with a

Giveaway to the FIRST finish!

OPTIONS

*Maybe you will choose your favorite 

blocks to make a 4 block wall hanging...

*Maybe you will make each block

as its own stand alone piece

to change out every month....

I will also be offering a block by block option.

Block 1-Currants will be available on 

September 6th, 2020 for $10.

It will include all the pattern instructions.

Subsequent blocks will be template ONLY for $5.95

Just hearing about all of this?

Follow these links to catch up:)

Introduction

Fabric selection

Supplies

OK, 

Ready ~ Set ~ GO!

See you over on FB

In case you forgot to click over:)

AVAILABLE HERE

Connecting Threads 'Autumums'

AUTUMUMS is now available in the

Fall Connecting Threads catalog!

This is the Gathering Wishes fabric line and all that

Autumn makes my heart sing:) 

It has been a year long adventure and

I am so happy to be able to share it with you now:)

You can always scroll to the bottom but how about building the anticipation with a quick tutorial on assembly.

Lately I have been cutting my HSTs to the next inch up vs. the 7/8".  This gives me a little wiggle room and an opportunity to trim if necessary.  Sometimes my personal seam allowance brings me right to the measurement I needed.

I have said it before and I will say it again, I am old fashioned and find that I get better results when I work one step at a time.  The blue ruler above is the Quick Quarter ruler (above pic) and I get very good results with it and Mary Ellen's Best Press. Pictured below are some sewn squares that have been sprayed with Best Press.

 Look how nice and crisp they are after and ready to be cut apart!

 Trimmed and ready to go!

 Time for applique....

Sometimes the amount of applique pieces needed can seem overwhelming but if you go to my tutorial, you can cut down your tracing and cutting by a quarter if not more. 

Save this link so that when you buy the pattern,

you will have this to refer back to.

See my CUTTING MULTIPLES TUTORIAL HERE: http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/2015/02/tutorial-cutting-multiples-of-fusible.html

I used a small zig zag stitch to applique all

my petals down before assembly.

 

Let's talk quilting....I know it is hard to decide on a design that will accent your applique or fill a large space.  I outlined the flowers and did stitch in the ditch for all the seams (blocks and borders).
The border quilting was finding a leaf shape I liked and adding swirls around it. 
The leaves were alternated right and left and traced to the border.  I then lightly sketched in some vines and smaller swirls to fill the space around them.

I believe you can click on the photo to enlarge it and the side lighting should show the quilting a bit.

Enjoy having a little Autumum in your world as much as I enjoyed designing and making it!

TUTORIAL: Cutting Multiples of Fusible Shapes

I know a lot of people love the look of applique and then decide it is too much work. 

Well nothing good comes from NO work but today I want to show a way to make it a bit less:)

 

Usually patterns that call for fusible applique have you trace each piece separately onto the paper-backed fusible you are using, cut each template out, fuse it to the wrong side of the fabric, and then you cut the actual fused fabric template out.  A lot of my patterns are written this way but most of my patterns are small wall hangs and it is the more accurate way.  I personally don't mind sitting and tracing/cutting whilst watching a great movie or two:) 

Today let's do things a bit differently....

Step 1.  The first bit of information you will need is the actual size of your template. In the photo above the template is 1-3/8" long x not quite 3/4" wide. For ease of my demo, I am using a precut 2-1/2" strip.  When measuring your template and cutting your strips, leave a little extra...  The actual strip would be cut @ 1-3/4" wide.  

Step 2.  You will cut your fabric strips up to a 1/2" wider than needed and your fusible an 1/8" narrower than your fabric strip. 
Actual fusible cut @ 1-5/8" wide for this template.  Cutting the fusible narrower allows that bit of wiggle room so that you aren't fusing glue to your ironing board...Ask me how I know:)

Step 3.  Cut strip into sections that are the size needed for your template. Remember earlier I said the Actual template is 1-3/8" x not quite 3/4".  I will cut my sections at 1-3/4" x 7/8". 
Make a FREEZER paper template and iron it to the right side of one section. Make sure all sections are fabric side up or you may inadvertently get a reverse piece where you didn't want one.

Step 4.  Cutting: I can cut up to 4 sections at a time with a wonderful pair of scissors with serrated edges which help to grip the fabric as it cuts. 
The other way I keep a good grip is with a small binder clip.  BINDER CLIPS ARE YOUR FRIEND! You could pin your layers but pinning tends to distort the stack.

Cut one side of the templates just to the outside of that Freezer paper template. 
In the photo, you only see the binder clip but remember you will be holding the rest of the stack with your non-cutting hand so slipping should NOT be an issue.  Gripping the stack of sections well, carefully reposition the binder clip to the other side and cut.

Remove your Freezer paper template and Ta-Da, 4 for the work of one.  Repeat this process for as many pieces as pattern calls for. When you are done cutting applique pieces, proceed to the next step of your applique process.

In these last two photos I wanted to show you to think beyond the rigid straight up and down positioning of templates.
In the top photo you will see that this template is longer than 3" and my strip is a 2-1/2" precut.  It will use up more fabric to cut my sections to fit this almost 3-1/2" template. 
In the bottom photo, I can rotate the template to fit within the 3" x 2-1/4" (fusible) and this may allow me to cut at least one more from this strip than doing it straight. 

A note about templates being reversed...
Since you are working on the right side of the fabrics, no need to reverse templates unless needed for mirror images or the pattern has already reversed them. 
Remember that most of the time the pattern templates are reversed so that you get Exactly what you are seeing on the cover.  It would not matter if things were done the other direction unless there is lettering.  So don't spend time worrying about whether you remembered to reverse or not.  Use all the templates the same way and you will have a lovely applique quilt when you are done!
Enjoy:))