The eternal optimist

It has occurred to me that I believe that I am a eternal optimist. Where I'm going with this is needle turn appliqué. I have tried countless times to do needle turn appliqué & they have all failed. I joined in on a BOM online & there is a ton of NTA (needle turn appliqué). I decided to start with something easy & work on the arches. Well I finished them but I was not pleased with them. So I took them to my sewing machine & sewed them down.

Next I tried to do the same thing with the leaves & well they turned out so bad that there is no picture, it was bad! So in frustration I put the whole project on the back burner & moved onto other things. Well my mind started wondering back to this project & trying to figure out a way to complete it.

First thought that went through my head was to do all of the appliqué in wool instead of cotton. That technique I knew I could do but the whole idea for me on this BOM was to stretch myself & learn knew skills. So more time passed & it hit me this am what about trying NTA but go about it doing the 

"back basting" method. I'll give it a go. I've always got the wool as my backup. (Machine appliqué is not even on the table right now as an alternative. I truly, truly dislike it.) I'll keep y'all updated on my progress.

I've decided to make secondary color ways of my quilts. Why would I make the same quilt twice? Well for a few reasons. One: it is amazing how the patterns change when you make them with a completely different color way or change where you put the value/hues. It can look like a completely different pattern. Second: It's a great way to use up more scraps!!! A lot of my patterns I already have the secondary color way made. On two of the quilts it's worked out that I could make a table runner instead of a quilt, yeah! My latest pattern, Prairie Stones, I've made that pattern 3 times. (It is such a fun pattern to make!) The current secondary color way quilt that I'm currently working on is  "Mod Squad". This quilt came about because I was going to make a French braid quilt. I had everything cut out to make it. I made 2 braids & realized that I do not like making French braid quilts!! Well I already had everything cut out how was I going to use it up? It's fun & pretty simple to make. I always mention in my presentations that I'd like to make it again except using lime green instead of the red. I had the fabrics (Thanks Maria P!) & I was able to get it cut out in a weekend. All of the blocks are ready to go & here it is all laid out. I LOVE IT!! I've got a cool border fabric to finish it off!

While I've been working on this it I've realized that I REALLY need to work on my friend Liz's quilt. She has waited an incredible amount of time for it & well I just need to get it to working on it & get it DONE!

I also need to work on a baby quilt for her new little one. I've got a bit of time until he arrives but not much. I can't be wasting time on Craigslist ( found a steal of a deal on a Singer 301A. I'll write about that some other time) I've got projects to work on & quilts to finish.

I hope that y'all are having a great day. It is simply stunning here! It's going to be a busy weekend. Tonight is set up for my local guilds quilt show tomorrow. We are also AI (artificial inseminating) cows this weekend & it's Mother's Day. Busy,busy. More later on,

Vicky