Appliique etc.

Dee asked me to teach another beginning hand quilting class at her shop in October.  It's just days after we get back from Colorado, so I thought I'd better start getting things together.  Yesterday I made a flannel board to attach samples of different methods of applique to.  I decided another Lafayette's Orange Peel might be fun to work on this winter, but in scrappy colors.  So my samples are all melon shapes.  I'll try and take a photo soon.

I usually start by having people practice the applique stitch using melon shapes created with the "used dryer sheet" method.  I don't really like this method because I can never get a sharp point with it, but designer Lori Holt uses it, as does a member of one of my guilds.   I need to buy a little more unbleached muslin to make a few more squares for the class, which is sure to be small but fun.

After they get the hang of the stitch, I move on to the class project, involving stems, leaves, and circles, mostly using the freezer paper method.   I used this design in 2016 for a class and then finished it for Cindy to hang in her newly painted room.   I made one last year which is now a pillow, so guess I'll make another along with this year's class.

This week I made four 6" basket blocks and then cut out four borders for the red, white, and blue medallion quilt I started last winter.   It was the biggest UFO in my closet and I thought it time to get back to work on it.  The background fabric for this border is a blue and white-ish stripe, so the flowers are red on a navy blue vine, and the leaves will be various scraps of blue.   I stitched the vine down by machine, but I'm doing the flowers and leaves by hand.  Because the weather got a little cooler, I worked on two of the borders quite a bit this week.  It's really relaxing.

I also put the August low volume blocks together today and started quilting this section of my year-long Splendid Sampler/Moda Blockheads quilt.  All this activity is good because it keeps me from snacking.  My cholesterol has gotten a bit high, so I'm taking the "life-style changes" (the P.A.'s gentle term for diet and exercise) route to avoid medication.  I walked about a mile and a half in the forest today, and we'll be having salmon and salad for dinner.   I hope to get more walks in if/when the weather cools.