Natalie Barnes has created an awesome, modern collection for Windham Fabrics called
Hand Maker. With 23 skus in this group, I hardly knew where to begin. But, they whispered loudly and I grabbed a handful of the colors, setting aside the black and white prints for the time being.
I grabbed a tried and true pattern of mine and resized it. It's my Easy
Winding Ways applique block and you will see how easy this is to make. I wanted to get the most out of a fat quarter, so I cut 8-1/2" background squares that will work with my applique. (You can find this same
Winding Ways pattern in a larger, 10" finished block size in my Etsy Store.)
I began with my template cut from freezer paper. I ironed it to the right side of an 8" square of my chosen fabric, with the fusible interfacing underneath (the applique can be cut from a smaller piece of fabric than the background square). Then I cut it out.
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| Freezer paper template, fabric and fusible interfacing |
I auditioned it on the background fabric I selected. Yep! That's the background I want for this beautiful teal.
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| Applique paired with a background square. |
Then I cut out a total of 6 Winding Ways applique units
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| 6 fabrics: 3 dark and 3 light |
I paired and cut out background squares to coordinate with my patches. I then pulled threads for the raw edge applique.
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| Getting ready for machine raw edge applique |
And how did you line up the patch, Debby? I finger pressed vertical and horizontal creases, as you can see. Notice that there is a 1/4" around the 4 sides.
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| Centering the patch |
And can we see one closeup after the applique? I used a small, narrow zigzag stitch around the raw edges.
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| Zig Zag machine stitch |
And from the back? Oh, now you understand why I used fusible interfacing and not fusible webbing. This way you can trim away the background fabric. This is VERY important when you have a dark background fabric and a light patch. If it is fused, the dark will affect the light colored applique patch. Ask me how I know!
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| Trim background fabric from behind the applique |
I want to make more of these blocks, so I haven't sewn them together yet. But I think they look lovely spread out on my work table, don't you? Notice how I will arrange them, light to dark
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| Blocks auditioning before sewing, lights and darks |
And the finished blocks:
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| 6 EZ Winding Ways blocks |
Go visit my Etsy shop to see my black and white
Winding Ways quilt and pattern. It is constructed exactly like this. It is a wonderful way to get the movement in this traditional, vintage block without all the curved piecing!
Those are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteDebby - - it's so great to see your project! And very creative, I might add, to applique those pieces. Thank you so much for "making" in Hand Maker fabrics....thank you.
ReplyDeleteNatalie.
Good Morning Debbie! This is a lovely applique pattern; plus, trimming out the back of the block makes a lot of sense on removing weight from the quilt also. I did go and check out your Craftsy site and there are several patterns I would love to purchase after the Holidays! Thank you for sharing and inspiring!
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be a beautiful quilt...and I too would like it sitting on my worktable.....
ReplyDeleteI do like this, so far. I like the modern take on some of the traditional patterns, though if I can only have one, I'll always prefer traditional. It is fun to see these blocks, though.
ReplyDeleteI like the effect of the dark colors on their corresponding light backgrounds. When I saw the picture of what you had cut out from the back--I thought, hmm, one could take that piece and put it on another piece of the dark background. Then I wondered how small could one go with this idea.
ReplyDelete