Last days of Spring

I had intended to share this applique design this spring,....but I seem to be a little late....well actually, since Summer does not officially arrive until Sunday..... I am not late after all.

This block was designed as part of short article I wrote for CQA in early 2012,
In this article, I talk about auditioning fabrics and how to use interesting prints to your advantage.  The pattern is an applique block that can, of course, be done in whatever method you prefer. Mine is hand appliqued.

Perhaps you are looking for a project to work on while enjoying some lovely days on the deck.
You can view, download and print the file here
If you print the design at actual size, it will work nicely for an 8 inch block......if you would like it to fit a 12" block, you will need to enlarge it roughly 140%

A tutorial of my favourite method for freezer paper applique (including how I do those tiny 1/8" stems) can be found here

A is for Apple

With September being National Sewing Month & back to school time, Janome Canada is celebrating with "An Apple a Day" over on the Janome Life blog.  Something "apple" related is being posted
everyday this month.  I am quite happy to be one of the contributors and since I seemed to be in design mode anyway, I created a continuous line quilt design.

I did 3 actually, 1 pretty basic, another, just a little more challenging, and a third for those who want to take it a bit further.

So, if you are interested in these designs and want to try them for yourself, head on over to the Janome Life blog and grab my downloadable  PDF.  These free designs are printable and ready for you to play with....(even if you don't want to do free motion, you could adapt them for applique or perhaps have a fabric painting/colouring session).....hope you like them!

Of course, I couldn't just stitch the design, I also thought I was due for another round of playtime with discharge paste, mine is called, "de-Colourant". You can find out more about this product here
I have shown this technique before but here is a refresher. I traced the design onto a piece of freezer paper, pressed the freezer paper to my black cotton fabric,

then went to the machine, removed the bobbin as well as the thread from the needle and stitched along the design lines in order to make perforations. The next step was to brush on the discharge paste. once I was sure I had distributed the paste evenly, I carefully peeled off the freezer paper and left the piece to completely dry.

The final step was to hit it with a good hot iron using plenty of steam. The discharge paste had made its way through the perforations, once activated by the steam, this is the result.