A Week In the Pines with Friends and Fiber

Sunday after dinner we covered the dining room table with felt and plastic table cloths. Nancy and Kay set up their machines at each end of the table and I laid out my appliqué supplies in the middle. We set up an ironing board in the kitchen.

Monday morning we got right to work. Nancy is the most disciplined of the three of us. She finished three traditional two colored quilts from blocks she had pieced at home and had ready to sew together.

Kay sewed the blocks of what will be a beautiful batik quilt and I started work on my appliqué. Kay and I took frequent knitting breaks.

My appliqué was not a success. Although I thought I had started it 10 years ago, Nancy corrected me. I started it 5 years ago when she and I went to Asilomar together. In any event, my skills have declined and my fingers have stiffened since the last time I picked it up. The first day went well. I stitched the long smooth lines of the trunk and branches of the tree of life and remembered how much I enjoyed appliqué and had ideas for lots of applique in my future. But the second day I worked on one of the flowers and couldn’t get the petals or the leaves to point, the v’s between the half circles in my scallops turned into curved u’s. I wasn’t at all happy with my work. The third day I ripped out what I had done.

I have two choices: give it up and never finish or find another way. I’ve decided to try the machine. I’ll free motion stitch around the edges of each floral piece. This will give them a slight frayed edge when the quilt is washed. After the pieces are all down I’ll free motion quilt with colored thread, silk or sulky, repeating the shapes of the appliquéd motifs. It should work. And, this way there is a good chance it will be finished someday and it won’t ever be finished if I stick to what I started.

After I put the appliqué away, I spent the last days knitting. More on that later.