Medallion Chinese Coins III Quilt Finished

"When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that... deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed."

~ Fred Rogers ~

While {I'd like to say} quilt designs are rarely reprised or repeated, I've recently completed a second pair of baby/toddler quilts. This pair is even more identical than the previous ones except the sizes vary this time. That makes them a perfect older sibling/new baby gift. Not that there's one on the horizon, but it will come.

Chinese Coins III Medallion quilt with appliqué

Adding appliquéd flowers made these tops into something more special. Remember they were the bottom of the scrap bag. It took both quilts to actually empty the bag that time. The technique is a variation of raw edge appliqué. Check Lara Buccella's book Crafted Appliqué for more information.

Chinese Coins III Medallion quilt
appliqué detail

To make it more like the other medallion, I quilted Baptist Fans again. Free motion quilting is a good change of pace from all the simple walking foot lines I've been doing. And so relaxing.

Chinese Coins III Medallion quilt
Baptist fans FMQ detail

When it was time to bind the quilt I found a pile of orange leftovers in the scrap bag and trimmed them to size. Unfortunately they don't look good on this quilt. They are simply too bright. So...

Chinese Coins III Medallion quilt
with possible bright orange binding

I found a lighter peach remnant in my stash. This shade isn't as bright plus the white design printed on top brings the intensity down further.

Chinese Coins III Medallion quilt
with light peach binding

Here's a view of the back showing the Fans and the quiet binding.

Partial view of back of
Chinese Coins III Medallion quilt

And here's a view of the binding itself with the outer border and parts of the back showing. Yes. This works much better.

Chinese Coins III Medallion quilt binding detail

This pair will go on the stack until two children need them.

Size: 50" x 58"

Pattern: Medallion with Chinese Coin borders and appliqué

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton

Thread: Aurifil 50-wt grey cotton 

Quilting: free motion Baptist fans

Previous posts:

1. Starting the medallion
2. Chinese Coins III top finished
3. Chinese Coins IV finished

Enjoy the day, Ann

Applique Numbers

Although they make me laugh, these ballplayers are missing something. There's too much empty space on their uniforms. And in the yard. I haven't figured out what to do about the grass but..

Phillies ballplayers in unnumbered jerseys

I bothered FO {that's Future Owner} for a list of his favorite players and their numbers. With a serious drop dead date and threat to add Giants players to the quilt. Ha. I'd feel guilty but it worked. He sent the list, I graphed the numbers and appliqued them to the chests. I thought they were perfectly straight but these two are slightly aslant. Whoops. It adds to the folk-art charm, right?

Adding numbers to the Phillies ballplayer jerseys

All that's left is slow, careful cutting. I'm out of the pinstripe so can't make a mistake here. Sure wish I'd numbered the jerseys before sewing the uniforms. It would have been much easier.

This coming Tuesday is AHIQ linkup. Are you ready to share your words? I am! And I can't wait to see what everyone else has done.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Making Leaves

My first thought was to use lots of colors for the leaves but I decided the cardinals would be bright enough. The vine fabric is a blue-green but most of my greens are on the yellow side. I pulled all the blue-greens I could find in my stash and scrap bag. A few are crazy prints that may or may not work out. We'll see.

Green and blue fabrics for leaves

Preparing fabric using Lara's book, Crafted Applique, took most of the day but this method is easier on my hands. {I needed physical therapy after my last attempts to hand quilt. I now limit handwork to prevent recurrence.} My previous work with her directions worked quite well but I'm curious how this will hold up to daily use. Frankly, I wonder how long any raw edge applique will last. {QS says it will last as long as I live. What a comedian. Also a good point. This is a quilt for me and that's how long it needs to last.}

Stephie and I traded fabric scraps last week.  I thought mine looked like some of her flags for Fete, the quilt she's making for her sister's birthday. {Aren't sisters a wonderful gift in themselves?} She thought hers would make a good binding for my neutral string quilt. Plus she send some extra Quilty365 circles with hand stitching. Lucky me.

Fabric scraps, Quilty365 circles
and a card from Stephie!

We took the train to San Francisco and saw this magnificent dome in Westfield Centre.

Emporium Dome,
Westfield Centre, San Francisco

Originally built as the Emporium Building in 1896, the first dome survived the 1906 earthquake but fell during the subsequent firestorm. The current dome was built in 1908 and restored about thirty years ago when the shopping center was built.

It reminded me of another San Francisco landmark. Almost forty years ago Neiman Marcus purchased the old City of Paris building with its glorious white and yellow stained glass rotunda. The dome was added in 1908 when department store was rebuilt following fire damage after the 1906 quake. Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the building was torn down in 1981. The new structure incorporated the original rotunda and is again a favorite city landmark.

City of Paris dome, Neiman Marcus, San Francisco

This dome reminds me of Sunshine by Monica at Lakeview Stitching. She handles yellow so masterfully.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Crafted Applique Giveaway Winner

There were too many comments to choose a favorite so the handy dandy random number generator on my calculator chose. Sorry, I can't get the photo to upload.

Karen in Breezy Point, you are the winner of a signed copy of Lara Buccella's book Crafted Applique... New Possibilities. I'll PM you for mailing information and Lara will mail it soon.

I hope everyone else gets their hands on a copy soon. This is fun technique that makes raw-edge applique neat and fray-free.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Crafted Applique Blog Hop and Giveaway (CLOSED)

Today is my turn to share my opinion of {BuzzinBumble} Lara B's new book, Crafted Applique... New Possibilities. She asked friends and fellow bloggers to read the book and make something with her technique. AND we get to give away one of her books to our readers! Keep reading for more information.

Lara explains her applique method and its variations extremely well. It makes using the tiniest pieces possible... without fraying. Just look at Heidi's work on Red Letter Quilts. She made the most detailed circles (for Quilty 365) and then designed adorable reindeer. Wow!

In addition to being so clever, Lara is a talented artist. Her book contains seven unique projects, each in a different style. I love the Mid-century Modern vibe of the camper on the cover but she also has a folk art throw quilt, a realistic moth on a pillow and a sewing machine cover that doubles as a gingerbread house. All the patterns and instructions are included in the book. Take a look at her blog for more project photos and more giveaway chances.

You will want to keep an eye out for future patterns from this talented quilter.

Although you don't see much evidence on my blog I actually know how to applique. I just haven't done much for a long time. Lack of practice made me quite hesitant to draft a design. Several quilts-in-process call for applique so I simply must buckle down. Finally I chose to make a pillow using leftover arcs from my Polka Dot quilt. {Starting small and easy for once.}

I sewed selvedges diagonally to a backing and batt as a foundation. Next I prepped the fabric as Lara taught then laid the arcs in interlocking circles.

Selvedge strings on the diagonal form the base layer, then quarter arcs are arranged on top to create circles on this pillow.

I pressed them with an iron and press cloth then sewed a straight stitch with matching thread on each circle. Here's the finished top - soft, pliable, and fray-less! It will be smaller once I sew the pillow back. I want to keep it but it's promised already. Guess I'll have to make another.

Linked circles appliqued
on top of selvedge strings create this pillow top.

There are several ways to get a copy of Crafted Applique.

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me how this technique will help you. I'll draw one name on June 4 and Lara will mail your copy.
2. Enter a giveaway on one of the other blogs.
3. Order a signed copy directly from Lara's Big Cartel shop.
4. Order a copy from AQS.
5. Order a copy on Amazon. They've already sold out twice.

By the way, the linkup for AHIQ is still active. Take a look at the talented quilters there and consider joining in.

Enjoy the day, Ann