The Heart of Applique

Here is my

February ~ Applique Block

"Love At First Spike" 

for the

February's Free Blocks Here

from 

Amy @ Sew Incredibly Crazy

There are two blocks per month, 

one pieced and one applique.

Once upon a time I avoided machine applique.

I always loved the look of the blocks,

just not the process.

With time and effort I have found a way that works for me.

Blocks are free for a month so save them now!

For reference bookmark the 

A Time For All Seasons BOM Full Schedule Here

Join in the fun and see all the blocks and read all the announcements on their

Facebook Group Page Here

Once upon a time I avoided machine applique.

I always loved the look of the blocks,

just not the process.

"Why not?"  asks the Maestro. 

"Oh, just let me do it for you,' says Maestro,

"This is easy!"

With time and effort ...and a little help from my quilty kitty ...

 I have found a way that works for me.

Added my blocks to this month's linky party ..

February Blocks Linky Party Here

Looking forward to the March Blocks!

The Sew Incredibly Crazy BOM for 2019

I am sewing along with 

A Time For All Seasons Block of the Month

Here is my

February ~ Pieced Block

February's Free Blocks Here

from 

Amy @ Sew Incredibly Crazy

Blocks are free for a month so save them now!

For reference bookmark the 

A Time For All Seasons BOM Full Schedule Here

Join in the fun and see all the blocks and read all the announcements on their

Facebook Group Page Here

In some past years I have been a designer for this talented group.

Last year the commitment was feeling stressful 

and my friends took on my last month's block.

This year I am just sewing along with my friends.

I pulled his bundle and other fabrics from my stash to start.

This  bright and pretty fat quarter bundle is 
Simply Happy from Riley Blake.

For those who may be interested,
this bundle is on sale at 
Precuts of the Week @ Fat Quarter Shop
(affiliate link)

I will be adding other bits and pieces as I see and sew the blocks

The cute appliqued Hedgehogs block is next on my list.

Hope to see you sewing along, too.

It's a Wild Life BOM ~ July Block

July is here!

Time for another fun free block from the

It's a Wild Life Block of the Month

I have the pieced river background done for my block.

I am thinking to add an applique splash of white where the river meets the green ground
to try to make it look like a waterfall.

I love waterfalls.

Think that would work? 

I am still choosing fabrics for the adorably cute fishing bear

in the applique design from 

Carla @ Creatin' in the Sticks

Download this month's pattern now while it is free for the month.

and join 

Sew Incredibly Crazy BOM FB Group

to see all the blocks!

Have fun sewing along! 

Is it June yet?

A Sneaky Peek!

Maestro and I have been very busy behind the scenes

designing and sewing and getting ready 

to release my block for June for the 

"It's a Wild Life" BOM @ Sew Incredibly Crazy

Maestro was very helpful creating the design.

We are looking forward to seeing how others

bring our block to life for their quilts.

In the meantime 

Carol @ Just Let Me Quilt

has released a "bonus block"

for our group to work on.

You can only find this right now by joining our

Sew Incredibly Crazy and Friends BOM Facebook Group

It is free to join and all patterns are free during the month they are released.

Previous month's patterns are available for a small fee. 

So  Join Here  Now!

Hope to see you sewing along

It's A Wild Life BOM ~ May ~ Bear Paw Block

Here is my Bear Paw Block for the

"It's Wild Life Block" of the Month

This month's block was designed by

Joan @ MooseStash Quilting

For my fabrics I am using this lovely FQ Bundle of

Big Sky by Annie Brady for Moda Fabrics

I have been saving it for this project.

My green background fabric for this block is

Creekside Compass by Cheri and Chelsi for Moda Fabrics

This  wild and wonderful BOM 

is organized and hosted by 

Amy @ Sew Incredibly Crazy

who hosts a block party every month 

with a wonderful prize for one randomly drawn winner.

 Here is the layout plan for this mystery BOM 

Please also join us at the

Sew Incredibly Crazy and Friends FB Group

Hope to see you sewing along!

April Trees for the It's a Wild Life BOM

Here are my April Tree Blocks for the

Click Here For the Main BOM Page

This month's tree patterns are designed by

Carol @ Just Let Me Quilt

There are four tree blocks to choose. 

Download them now while they are free for the month of April.

Hope to see you sewing along!

Foe the big tree I chose this adorable applique pattern.

I am calling these "Ice Cream Trees"

This tree is four scoops of fabric fun! 

It is tempting to put a cherry on top ... ;)

Most of my fabrics are from 

Big Sky by Annie Brady

I have a FQ bundle and a layer cake and a couple of small pieces of yardage.

My background and additional fabrics are mostly

Creekside by Sherri an Chelsi

These are two of my favorite fabric collections and designers.

I had sew much fun sewing these blocks!

A few years ago I did not like applique.

Now I love applique!

I just needed to learn and to practice.

I use a machine blanket stitch and set my stitch to small.

For the large pieces I set my Janome to

Mode 2

Stitch 37

2.5 and 2.0

For the very small pieces, like the eyes on the bird,

I set my stitch even smaller

1.5 and 1.0

I also slow down the speed on my machine .

I match my thread colors as best I can to the fabric on the applique piece.

Goo 100% cotton thread like Aurifil and Superiorwork best for me.

Coats Mercerized ELS  100% Cotton thread, available at Joann's, is also very good quality 

and works well for applique and machine quilting.

I was lucky to have a varigated green thread

that was a perfect match for the 

I do not have a lot of thread colors.

I like to buy my thread, like this one, at large quilt shows.

This one is 100% Egyptian Cotton

from WonderFil

This little bunny was my favorite part of this block!

I carefully cut this from the bear fabric and hid a face under the cotton tail.

I love the way it gives the bunny depth and texture. 

For the small tree I chose the small pieced pattern'and cute the pieces from  

the leftover fabric from the 10" squares 

that I used for the large applique tree. 

I could not resist adding the applique butterfly! 

To see all the pretty trees and to join our FB group, click on the link below ...

Sew Incredibly Crazy and Friends

It is cold and very windy and sunny here today.

Tomorrow we have snow in the forecast again.

Brrrrrr!

I am enjoy these April trees on my sewing table.

No spring flowers outside here yet.

Thinking Spring!  

As always, my little Maestro,

who is not so little anymore,

was a big help while making these blocks.

Maestro and I wish you happy sewing today ... :-) 

It's A Wild Life ~ Free BOM ~ Block 1

Time to start the wild and wonderful

"It's a Wild Life" BOM


This month's block will be available for free for the month of January.

Click Here For This Month's Designer's Instructions

This months block is from

Amy @ Sew Incredibly Crazy

Click Here to download the pattern in the

 Sew Incredibly Crazy Patterns Craftsy Shop

The pattern will be free for the month of January
so get your copy now!

My leaf fabrics are from this lovely FQ bundle of
Big Sky by Annie Brady for Moda Fabrics

I have been saving it for this project.

My background fabric for this block is

Creekside Compass Spray by Cheri and Chelsi for Moda Fabrics




I like to make the stems of my Maple Leaf blocks a different
fabric than the leaf so I made the above variation by cutting
one 5"  square in brown  stem fabric variation
and three 5" squares of the bear camo fabric

Those little black Maestro feet were very helpful in the making of this block.

Nutmeg was also very involved in the making of these blacks.

Some tools of the trade ...

I used an erasable black Frixon pen for drawing the lines
and they disappeared when I pressed my blocks.

This type of marking pen is new to me and
I think it is a keeper.

I used my 4.5" Bloc-Loc ruler
for squaring up the units.
I love these rulers.
They are well worth the expense
for these HSTs.

My blocks measured an accurate 12.5"
without any issues.

Thanks, Amy, for these fun and favorite blocks
to start us off in the right direction
in this wild and wonderful BOM mystery quilt!


Every month Amy will be hosting a Link Party
and there will be prizes randomly awarded.

Our January  sponsor is

who has a nice surprise
for one lucky quilter who
enters her block in the Linky Party.

Please also join us at the
Sew Incredibly Crazy and Friends FB Group

Hope to see you sewing along!

It's a Wild Life BOM Coming in 2018!

This wild and wonderful free BOM

is coming in 2018!

Click Here for all the Info

Here is the month by month schedule:

February

Sew Incredibly Crazy

March

Creatin' in the Sticks

April 

Just Let Me Quilt

May

Moosestash Quilting

June

Life in the Scrapatch

July

Creatin' in the Sticks

August

Sew Incredibly Crazy

September

Just Let Me Quilt

October

Moosestash Quilting

November

Life in the Scrapatch

December

Just Let Me Quilt

January

Sew Incredibly Crazy

All the blocks are free

for the month that they 

have been released.

After that, there

will be a small fee.

I do hope that you plan on 

quilting along with us.

There will be a monthly

prize drawing for those

who finish the blocks with us.

We would love it if you 

are on Facebook, to join us.

You can find it, HERE.

This quilty fun is organized and hosted by 

Amy @ Sew Incredibly Crazy

Thank you, Amy!