Reverse Applique

February's demonstration was an inspiring one on the technique of Reverse Applique.  Member Laurie P. led us in a hands on tutorial, and also showed us some examples of her work.  Such a talented lady, and what a fun technique.  Some of the benefits, besides that it is absolutely beautiful is that it is a nice portable project and one that can be made with just one color of thread which would match the background color.  I can see that it would take some practice, but could be very rewarding!

 Below I wanted to show you that I finished up the kit that Laurie provided for each of us.  I made it into a needle/scissor case.  Glad that I got it finished up and made it into something useful!  Thank you!  Laurie

Home Is Where the Heart Is

When the weather is cold and the wind has been nipping on your body, there's no better place than your own snug home, all toasty with a chair that fits your bottom  and a nice hot drink waiting for you.  Our houses are important and are the inspiration for many projects including the house quilt blocks.
I found a blog which I believe is Dutch, and she makes many, many little house blocks and she starts with a stamp to make the house components. Building House from Scratch has a lot of sweet scrappy house ideas.

Craftsy has a great tutorial on making houses and I like the nice clean lines of this pattern.

 Quiltmaker has the very sweetest 3" houses, I can see many small scraps going into this little cuties.

Bloomin Workshop has a wonderful manor house block for all your Downton Abbey fans. You too can be lady of the "manor".

Retro Mama has a little cottage home with rick-rack trim.

Here is a pin from Quilt Nut Creations that shows a beautiful finished house quilt with applique.

Natalie Ross In Stitches has some photos of good applique and embellishing ideas to add to applique houses.  They are very cute and inspiring, I really like the wonky wobbly house.  Hope you like the house ideas to put on your bucket list.   Diana

Quilting in February

February is a great month to just sit and sew.  I have been finishing up some UFO's but still making new projects.  My goal this year is not to feel guilty about my UFO's but to just finish up as much as I can.  With our wonderful fabric stashes, we should be looking forward to new projects too so make some plans to use up those stashes!  These bargello quilts are really pretty and seem very doable. Kona Bay is featuring this pattern in two colorways so you can see how it could be done.  I like that they represent summer and spring, trying to keep those seasons in mind.  These really are nice.

Ok, this is fun, Chinese Zodiac quilts based on the year you were born.  I am a sheep and should be making Count Your Blessings Mini Quilts.  What are you and what is your quilt?

Pocketful of Pinwheels, Too has a pdf for a super cute pillow with a pocket.  Anyone looking for a grand kid project might consider this pillow.  The Quilted Fish has a sweet little purse pattern which would be great for a smart phone or game player or just for shopping at the quilt shows.

Happy Quilting has a lot of great patterns.  Her Braided Irish Chain is very interesting and a different version of the old favorite.  Her Nature's Gems quilt is so cute and would be a great baby quilt. Check out all her patterns.

Leigh Laurels Studios has a lot of tutorials, many quilting, sewing and craft projects. I love her Flowering Snowball Mini, looks challenging but fun.  Hope these patterns get you motivated and keep sewing.  Diana