Windham Wednesdays with the Hand Maker Collection

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.

The Hand Maker Collection by Natalie Barnes for Windham Fabrics

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.
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.

Applique paired with a background square.
Then I cut out a total of 6 Winding Ways applique units

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.

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.

Centering the patch
And can we see one closeup after the applique? I used a small, narrow zigzag stitch around the raw edges.

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!

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

Blocks auditioning before sewing, lights and darks
 And the finished blocks:
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!

Comments

  1. Debby - - 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.
    Natalie.

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  2. 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!

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  3. This is going to be a beautiful quilt...and I too would like it sitting on my worktable.....

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  4. I 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.

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  5. I 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.

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Thanks for stopping by Debby Kratovil Quilts! If you had a question and don't get an answer from me, please feel free to email me at: kratovil@his.com