So, I will be starting another 25 block applique quilt this January. I'm so excited, but will probably still be handquilting this 100x100 quilt in two years! (or more!)This one is based off an antique that
Gay Bomers- Sentimental Stitches purchased on Ebay. She generously offered it free, one block a month. I have to admit, I'm a top maker, but thought I'd hand quilt this since I finished my 14 year handquilting project of Jane Stickle this year.
This was the last block I finished outlining. This was also the block that I was hand appliqueing that made me decide to machine applique. There are 46 or 47 leaves in this one block. Is it any wonder I gave up the hand applique at this point? If you click on this to enlarge you can see some of the fun quilting motifs I copied from the original and added. I had a lot of fun stitching those.
My original plan was to cross hatch after quilting the motifs, but I saw a quilt recently that had these wonderful clamshells and motifs, just like the original Beyond the Cherry Tree quilt, so I went back to the idea of clamshells. I really thought they would quilt up fairly quickly too. (a bonus in my opinion)
I was on the fence about it and after a chat with my dear friend I decided to at least mark it and see what i thought.
So I did, then I erased it quickly with a hot iron. Looked like a huge pain in the neck with all the applique.
So I used my hera marker and marked one block with lines 1 1/2" apart. Nothing is going to be easy about quilting the rest of this. I've worked on it 3 nights now and am still on this block!
PS I haven't quilted anything in the borders yet or outlined my applique. Maybe this will be another 14 year project!
I've got lots planned for the weekend. Enjoy!