The Rain Has Ceased... for a while

I'm feeling pity instead of my usual envy for the people who have back-yard pools here in Vermont. By my count there have been only two days this whole summer that have been hot enough to warrant a dip. It rained all day today - a truly dreary Sunday. We did all go to breakfast at the Bridge Street Cafe in Richmond - so so good. I had never been there, so Josh and Steph invited us along with them.


I've been working on some various applique techniques on my little quiltings. I did some raw edge fusing for these flowers and leaves, but then decided to free-motion stitch around the shapes, over and over and over. It makes sort of a chain-embroidery effect, I think. I've discovered I just can't leave raw edges alone. My all-time favorite method of applique is needle-turn. I love making the tiny, almost invisible stitches. I love using small, slender needles and I especially love it when I've got fine silk thread on hand - so satisfying.

This is a quilt I made for my Mom - I used a freezer paper method for the applique. Not bad - it was fairly precise and I could get sharp points but had to dampen the shapes after with water to remove the paper. The pattern is a Piece O'Cake design. Loved the applique, hated the star - had to rip out several times to get it to lie flat. --cds