Yesterday I showed you the article that was my initial inspiration for the “Catherine Wheel of Color” quilt…..

During the day, I received a message from Abigail Dolinger…..the writer the of the article and designer of the “Pathways” quilt!!

I had a peek at her website and blog and you should really check it out!!! There is loads of great stuff there!!

But on with the quilt…..

When we left yesterday, it was at this stage….

While it looked nice, I had grown really fond of seeing the color wheel on point, so that meant adding corners!!

I did lots of mock-ups and finally came to the conclusion that I wanted it to look like this….

That meant making lots more circles and playing more with my yardage and the color wheel….

I also spent copious amounts of time doing geometry and trying to figure out the exact size of the triangles…..

But finally the circles were placed on the triangles and more applique ensued….

After a lot of squaring up (in my garage because that was the only place large enough to lay the top flat)…..

…. I was ready to think about quilting it!!

But then came another problem…..at that time, I only had my domestic Juki machine and I was fairly certain that I couldn’t quilt it there.

Then Julio (a Juki Sit-Down Longarm) entered my life….

While I loved quilting on the machine, I didn’t think that I was proficient enough to quilt this special quilt!!

After 2-1/2 years of practicing, I decided that I was indeed ready to quilt it…..

While quilting, I found that I truly enjoy quilting straight lines, and I found it quite relaxing to just sit and quilt!!

So in 2023…..four years after starting…..the quilt was finished, and as they say…..

“The Rest Is History”…..

Thanks for joining me on my walk down memory lane!!!

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Thank you…….

Last week, I discussed the appliques (cut-outs) for my upcoming Holiday Inn quilt. To recap, I was finding it too hard to cut out the fabrics…..

….so I had pretty much decided that I would applique them on.

In my practice quilting sessions, I played with different ways to stitch the appliques in place.

These were definitely a no…..

These looked okay but I still wanted them to look like they were UNDER the top fabric….

THEN…..I took the workshop about Reverse Applique and…..voila…..the solution appeared!!

I WILL DO THEM AS REVERSE APPLIQUE!!!

As soon as I got home from the workshop, I pulled two fabrics and drew in the shapes….

…and sewed around them…..

I cut out the top fabrics

….and then turned it over and cut out the backing fabric….

I played with stitching extra lines around the shapes on the front…..

I am not sure how much extra stitching/quilting that I will add after the fabrics are cut out, but I feel sure that this will be the perfect solution to my issue!!

Now I just have to get more fabric and find time to work on it!!

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On Friday my friend Ann came over asking for help with a project.

Brainstorming over ideas is one of my FAVORITE things to do, especially because I don’t have to actually DO any of the work!!

I was astounded as she brought out 13 gorgeous applique pieces…..

As I ogled at the intricate applique in each of the blocks, Ann told me that her mother had made most of them…..

….but she had finished up one or two herself…..

Aren’t they wonderful…..

When she first laid them out on the design wall, she had them all separated apart and was wondering what kind of sashing to use, thinking that she would turn it into a queen-size quilt.

This would mean that a large appliqued border would also be needed.

As we talked, I asked Ann if she was planning to use this on a bed and she immediately answered NO WAY!!

So why was she aiming for such a large quilt?

We started looking at photos of other Baltimore Album style quilts online and noticed that many did not have sashing at all.

SO….what would happen if we pushed them all together and turned them into a nice sized wall hanging?

At this point you could see the relief in her eyes that, if it was smaller, she might actually get it finished.

We finished up by talking about quilting ideas and both felt like some grid work was going to be needed.

Ann may get home and go back to the queen-sized idea but she at least left my house with a possible alternative!!

Lest you think that this advice was all one-sided, I showed her a project that I have taken on for a friend and Ann made some great suggestions about how to use a bunch of VERY DISPARATE blocks.

This synergy that happens when you brainstorm with others always amazes me….

What do you do when you get stuck on a project?

Is there a special friend that you brainstorm with?

If not, I would encourage you to find one….

…………………… IMMEDIATELY!!!

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