Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Alternate Beautiful Blocks Quilt

Alternate Beautiful Blocks Quilt

I like to complete several quilts when I design a pattern, utilizing different fabrics to show some of the versatility of the pattern. For the Beautiful Blocks book, I had a group of friends who were willing to test the instructions, so I decided to make another quilt with them. Instead of the light colors of the original quilt, I decided to use a black background. I also used a different border and eliminated the mock cathedral window cornerstones setting so as not to interrupt the black background between the blocks. This has the effect of looking like the block designs float on the black background.
These colors are kind of unusual for me, but I like how this turned out. I actually got the inspiration for the colors by putting a picture of the layout of the original quilt in Photoshop. Then I shifted the hue for the non-green colors and this was close to the result. The outer border is 3" wide, where there is a 1" width strip of green pieces between 1" strips of black. The corners are quarter circles, just like those used in the block on the bottom row. I am still in the process of finishing the quilting on this quilt.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Applique Center

Applique Center

I have finally completed the applique center! I have to say as much as I love the posies, I'm glad to be done with them. I've already started to add some of the elements around the center, but wanted to just show the center for now. It's a bit difficult to see in the photo, but there are ribbons connecting the posies and the bluebirds. The background was paper foundation pieced rings. I used pinless piecing to stitch the rings together. The outer edge of the circle was hand appliqued to the square piece of background fabric.
For most of the applique on the quilt, I have been using starch and press on the individual pieces, and then using glue to construct the units (such as the birds or the posies). Then I hand applique the unit pieces together before stitching the unit to the background. The background beyond the circle is a solid piece of fabric with a subtle texture. I considered piecing the outer background, but there will be enough going on with the applique pieces that I didn't want to make it more busy. As I add elements now I will add more pictures.
This part of the quilt is symmetrical, but the remainder won't be so I'm excited to really get into the work of adding the rest of the applique pieces.
© 2017 Susan Taylor Propst

Saturday, November 18, 2017

New Patchwork Book

Beautiful Blocks

I taught beginning and intermediate patchwork classes for a number of years as well as creating applique designs. I decided a few years ago to revisit the intermediate class and update some of the patterns. The design is similar to what I taught in the classes, but there are more techniques and new ways to make some of the blocks. What is particularly nice for many quilters is that I have developed techniques for completing many blocks more easily all by machine, including the Dresden Plate block. I also know many students didn't enjoy the curved piecing so have used glue to make the curves much easier. The outcome of this is that I have written a book with all of the instructions and step-by-step illustrations. I have just completed the manuscript and it will be available on Amazon Nov 20, 2017.
                                                         ISBN: 978-1979475259