Prepping some applique

My sewing machine is still in the shop (which is closed Sun.-Tues.), so I am taking a little time to sit and applique.  This is good after a couple of hectic weeks anyway.  I finished this block over vacation and need to write up the directions for the beginning applique class I'll teach in June.  Thanks to Dee, I'm postponing the classes from April when I have too many activities to squeeze in two Saturdays.  And May was too busy, too.

Besides this block, which is for the second day of the class, I'll be starting the class by teaching a variety of applique methods using a larger melon or orange peel shape from an old book by Ruby McKim.  Her 12" pattern is pieced, but I think it's much easier to applique.  A recent issue of Block magazine showed a similar quilt, and I've found a couple of nice scrappy ones online to show the group.  I have a bunch of 6" blocks to work on, too, in scappy blues on a cream background.  They can be put together in a variety of ways, and I have lots of blues I can use.  This will be an on-going project.  Who knows when I'll stop?

It is week nine of Lori Holt's "Bloom" quilt-along, and I finally started preparing a block yesterday.  I like this simple, cute pattern and will try to catch up eventually.  I have some really wild fabric for it and do have a stack of 9.5" background blocks cut.  I cut out freezer paper shapes and am ready to baste the pieces and the stems today.  If I like it, I'll make 3 more for a block exchange I signed up for.  That's why my blocks are a little larger than the "Bloom" blocks are.  And I'm not sure I'll sash them as Holt suggests either.  I never follow pattern directions completely!  Holt suggests sewing Pellon to the pieces and then turning them right-side out for applique, but this method doesn't work well on points IMHO.  Her plastic template shapes are great, though, and can be used for other projects in the future.