Monday, September 15, 2014

KISMIF 22-Dresden Plate Blocks On The Go


Special Announcement!  Yay!  In my next KISMIF blog post I will start the Punky-Wunkin Quilt-A-Long!  Woo Hoo!  Sponsored by Connecting Threads!  Stay tuned...!
 
I've been really busy lately driving my kids to and from school.  We chose to put them in schools where our new home is being built so they would not have the school year interrupted--which turned me into a full-time bus driver.  That's what you get with 4 kids--one in Junior High, two in Elementary school and one Kindergartener.  It's a lot of driving 20 minutes one way...wait....drive...wait.  Well, you get the point.  I've been away from my sewing machine quite a bit lately.

So I decided to work on a UFO.  All of my UFOs are applique projects.  I just do not like the "Wonder-Under" or "Raw-Edge" applique method.  It's just not as permanent as the package says, in my humble little opinion.  So I needle-turn all of my applique projects.  I can hand-turn and sew down the edges much more quickly than I can sew, pivot and turn on my home sewing machine.

My UFO is a bunch of red Dresden plate blocks.  I admit, I planned on using plain cream for the blocks...but there is ONE (only one) fabric store in the county that I have moved to--and it's a major chain so it's fabric is of lesser quality.  In short, I chose not to go shopping (shocking, I know!) and raided my scrap pile for the back-grounds.  I had to use many different varieties of gray and am happy with how these blocks are turning out.



So...how am I "Keeping It Simple and Making It Fun?"  KISMIF

I chose to simplify the process by using an embroidery hoop to hold the pieces and keep the back ground fabric flat.  It works really great for sewing down the centers.  Then I remove the embroidery hoop, safety pin the quadrants and hand-stitch.  It really helps it get blocked correctly.  Give it a try!