Catching up.

During the last couple of weeks I have been working on several projects and trying to catch up.

I have finished 2 more of  Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilt blocks.

I have finished one more Tailfeathers Block.

I have been working steadily on hand quilting Little Grace.
 Here are some progress photos from this afternoon..

I finally finished the quilting tonight. :)  I will take a photo in the morning, when the light is better.

I started my first Friends of Baltimore block. There is lots of preparation work before any sewing starts. The first pieces I prepared were the stems. I have never made stems as small as 1/8" wide before!!
I tried a technique I read about recently where, as the fabric is passed under a pin both sides fold towards the centre. You iron the stem as you pull it through the gap under the pin. It worked well.

The pattern has lots of tiny (for me) pieces to be appliqued. I got out my copy of Applique 12 Easy Ways by Elly Sienkiewicz and prepared a small block with practice pieces. I have started with trying applique with freezer paper on top....another new to me technique.

Those leaves and stems are going to be a challenge!

I have all the freezer paper templates prepared and ironed on to my chosen fabrics. The next step will be to make some circles. Hopefully, nest week I will have something stitched on my first block.

I found a relatively new blog during the week. This blog is dedicated to a challenge to make a quilt to commemorate 200 years since the 1812 war in USA. I don't plan to take part in the challenge, but there are some wonderful old quilts shown on the blog.

I will be back soon with more photos.

Enjoy the rest of your week. Happy sewing! :)