Quilty Pleasures Wednesday: Pieced Applique

Let's face it: I am not an applique type of quiltmaker. I am easily distracted, not patient with close sewing work, the kind of person who has sewn her finger while using a sewing machine because I just glanced away, only a little bit, really. Exactitude is a trait that makes me want to be contrary and do something inexact just to annoy that perfect person.

So when our Friday quilt group decided to take an applique challenge, I admit I cringed a little. But I decided to get up with the Getalong Gang and do a small applique project. Just to get along.

Last year a dear friend gave me a book for my birthday called Penny Haren's Pieced Applique. It looked interesting and I filed it with my quilting books for a future project. This was the book our group would use as a reference. Yay!

Penny Hagen has words in her book like exactly, so the directions put me off a little.  Once I made a couple blocks, though, I was on my way.  I started with a basic block. This one was a group of four patches sewn together. The color looks off....The green is much greenier.

Then I made a simple template out of some printer paper. This one was a one-inch square. I glued the fabric to the templatse and placed them on the patchwork square.

Hey! That looks like a bow tie block!  I decided not to hand sew these appliques because, well, you know how I am. Instead, I used a very narrow zigzag stitch with monofilament on top and colored thread in the bobbin. You can hardly see the stitching.

The blocks are coming along swimmingly. I have a bunch more to make, since the little project has turned into something bigger, for a relative who likes purple and green.  This is my type of applique!

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